THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The factional tussle in the state Congress is threatening to derail the UDF candidates’ campaign for the upcoming by-polls in Vattiyoorkavu, Aroor and Konni assembly segments.
K Mohankumar, who is the UDF candidate in Vattiyoorkavu, has already complained to the Congress state brass that his campaign is yet to pick up steam and that it lags behind that of the rival contenders.
“Some senior leaders belonging to both the ‘I’ and ‘A’ factions have ganged up to slow down the pace of the election campaign in Vattiyoorkavu and the candidate has apprised the party leadership of this after witnessing the tardy pace of electioneering,” a senior Congess leader told TNIE.
It should be noted that Mohankumar had gatecrashed Vattiyoorkavu constituency after the party overlooked Peethambarakurup whose name was proposed by K Muraleedharan who quit the seat on becoming Lok Sabha MP. Muraleedharan, who twice represented the seat in the assembly, has strong roots in the constituency.
Though Muraleedharan had defeated BJP’s Kummanam Rajashekharan by a margin of 7,622 votes in the 2016 assembly elections, Shashi Tharoor, the winning UDF candidate in the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha constituency, saw his margin come down to 2,836 in the Vattiyoorkavu assembly segment during the 2019 general elections. And this means the going will be tough for the Congress candidate.
In Konni, KPCC president Mullappally Ramachandran and Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala had convinced Adoor Prakash to support the candidature of P Mohanraj. But at the grassroots, things are far from rosy for the party.
“There are issues at the ground level in the constituency. Adoor Prakash had represented the constituency since 1991 and he belongs to the ‘I’ faction. Mohanraj, however, represents the rival ‘A’ group and this can create some issues at the grassroots and it is for Prakash to iron these out and ensure the UDF victory in Konni,” a DCC general secretary told TNIE.
Aroor has been a ‘preserve’ of the ‘A’ group and with Mohanraj contesting from Konni, the seats were swapped, with ‘I’ group’s Shanimol Usman being fielded from the seat. There are fault lines at the ground level here, with party workers not gelling together.
In Ernakulam though, the Congress is better placed with UDF candidate T J Vinodh having good contacts at the grassroots on account of him being the DCC chief and the deputy mayor.
While veteran K V Thomas, a former union minister and six-time MP, raised the banner of revolt at being overlooked, the party has assured him of a senior organisational post immediately after the byelection. With Thomas also joining the electioneering, the chances of Vinodh appear bright.