THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : On the day former chief minister K Karunakaran’s daughter Padmaja Venugopal joined the BJP leaving a dent on the party’s poll prospects, the Congress chose to spring a major surprise deciding to field her brother and Vadakara sitting MP K Muraleedharan from Thrissur, the cradle of the late veteran’s political career.
The decision is seen in political circles as a shrewd move to checkmate the BJP.
Putting an end to speculation, the Congress leadership has finally decided that Rahul Gandhi will contest from his sitting seat, Wayanad. The first sitting of Congress Central Election Committee held in New Delhi on Thursday late evening finalised the list, sources said.
K C Venugopal, AICC general secretary (organisation), will contest from Alappuzha and Congress state president K Sudhakaran from Kannur. The party leadership cleared candidature of a few other sitting MPs from the state, including Shashi Tharoor from Thiruvananthapuram.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge will officially release the candidate list of 16 Congress MPs on Friday. After the Congress Election Committee meeting held in New Delhi late on Thursday, the state leadership gave the hint of a surprise swapping of seats between Vadakara and Thrissur. T N Prathapan is the sole sitting Congress MP who will be dropped from the candidate list. A party source from Delhi told TNIE that sitting Palakkad MLA Shafi Parambil or Kalpetta MLA T Siddique will be contesting from Vadakara.
Once again, Muraleedharan has emerged as the party’s best bet at time of crisis. The then Vattiyoorkkavu MLA was the sole Congress leader willing to accept the major challenge of fighting CPM stalwart P Jayarajan from Vadakara in 2019. And Muraleedharan romped home with a huge margin. Again in 2021 assembly elections, he was ready to contest from Nemom, the only sitting seat of the BJP in the state. Though he lost badly, finishing third, his courage to tread in a hostile territory had won him many fans.
The election committee meeting was attended by Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, and leaders from different states. Sudhakaran, V D Satheesan and Ramesh Chennithala also attended. The state leadership was firm on the demand that Rahul Gandhi should contest from Wayanad.