KOLLAM: Congress leader Prayar Gopalakrishnan has publicly come out against the decision to give the Chadayamangalam seat to the Muslim League for the upcoming Assembly elections. The former president of the Travancore Devaswom Board said the UDF got 19 seats in the Lok Sabha elections due to the controversial issue of women's entry into the Sabarimala temple.
"If I am eligible to contest in Chadayamangalam, the party should consider me as a candidate here, else ignore it if I am not qualified. Many others affiliated to the Congress have demanded a seat here and I am not against giving them a seat. The Sabarimala controversy had helped UDF to win 19 seats in the last Lok Sabha elections. It was a strong stand taken by the party and I was the one who strongly suggested that the case regarding women's entry in Sabarimala should be withdrawn. I would like to be fielded as one of the candidates this time. I wish the UDF comes to power as I want to be the Devaswom Board President again," Gopalakrishnan told reporters in Kollam.
It should be remembered how many votes the Muslim League candidate who contested in the local elections in the district panchayat division on the ladder symbol lost, he said. The Congress-League leaders need an understanding about the Chadayamangalam seat, he added.
Youth Congress activists also had come out against the UDF's decision to give the Chadayamangalam seat to the Muslim League. The Youth Congress is of the view that this is a constituency where the League has no influence and even if PK Kunhalikutty contests, it will face a major defeat.