KOZHIKODE: State-wide joint tour (padayatra), led by state Congress president K Sudhakaran and Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha polls, began in Kozhikode on Wednesday. This is part of the state Congress leadership’s mammoth election preparation work at the ground level eyeing the polls. The padayatra will cover 14 districts and culminate in Kochi on November 11. The yatra has been arranged as per the decision of the political affairs committee of the party.
Addressing the convention, Sudhakaran said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is still not in jail because of the charitable attitude of the BJP. “The central agencies that are supposed to act against him have been kind towards him,” he said.
Asserting that UDF can win all 20 seats in the Lok Sabha polls in the state, he said the party should be strengthened at the booth level.
Satheesan said the CPM leadership in Kerala is behind the party’s decision not to send representatives to the INDIA coalition. “Kerala CPM has struck a deal with the BJP to weaken the INDIA coalition at a time when all in the country are looking at the coalition with hope,” he said.
Satheesan added that the SNC-Lavalin case has been postponed 35 times and it will be postponed again. It is this fear of central agencies that prompted Kerala CPM to strike a deal with the BJP. The Congress leaders asked the party workers to actively take part in the voters’ list registration process.