THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Ruling out speculations that he may move to the BJP, senior Congress leader K Muraleedharan said he did not walk 495 kilometres in Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra to join the saffron party. Taking potshots at leaders within Congress, Muraleedharan said a section of leaders is trying to spread false news against him.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday, the senior MP said he takes pride in being a normal Congress worker rather than a central minister in the BJP government.
The 65-year-old has been a harried lot after rumour mongers set off a whispering campaign saying he was on his way to the BJP camp.
“Even if attacks continue against me, I will stay put in the Congress. There is no point in portraying K Karunakaran’s son as Sanghi. I have always been a secular leader. And it’s something I have been keeping close to my heart,” Muraleedharan said in his Facebook post.
In a recent television interview, Muraleedharan had urged the LDF and the UDF leaderships to take note of how Narendra Modi managed to wrest Tripura from the CPM. He pointed out how the BJP managed to repeat its success in Tripura despite Congress and the CPM joining hands.
Speaking to TNIE, Muraleedharan said his remarks led to cyber attacks against him. “It’s not only the BJP camp which is trying to create controversy, but there are certain leaders within the Congress who are also spreading false news against me. I will remain a true Congress worker throughout my life,” Muraleedharan said.
The equation between Muraleedharan and Congress state president K Sudhakaran has not been good after the former endorsed Kozhikode MP M K Raghavan, who lambasted the state leadership. This led Sudhakaran to send notices to the two senior MPs. The disciplinary action led to most Congress MPs from the state meeting K C Venugopal, national general secretary (organization), as a mark of protest against Sudhakaran’s gesture.