THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: UDF’s Vyshna Suresh, who had to knock on the doors of the High Court to take part in the election after her name was removed from the electoral rolls, had the last laugh as she drubbed her immediate rival, LDF’s Ansu Vamadevan, by 397 votes in the Muttada ward of Thiruvananthapuram corporation.
The 24-year-old termed her success as a win for democracy. “We worked very hard and the voters have given us their stamp of approval. We are very happy with the win,” she said.
Rising through the ranks of the KSU, she was the outfit’s district vice-president when her name was approved for candidature from Muttada, an LDF bastion. The emergence of a young candidate – she was the youngest Congress candidate in the corporation poll – brought her into the limelight.
However, there was a twist. Acting on a complaint filed by the CPM that the address she had submitted for including her name in the voters list was incorrect, her name was not included in the final voters list published by the Election Commission. An uproar ensued, as Congress leaders alleged that the exclusion was made at the behest of the CPM leadership, which was jittery over her candidature.
The HC directed the Election Commission to conduct a hearing and reinstated her name. All developments were widely tracked by media and extensively talked about on social media, making her a household name. Following the victory, Vyshna thanked her voters. She later met senior UDF leaders, including Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan, to seek their support.