Even as the BJP has decided to field Pon Radhakrishnan (69), former Union Minister of State for Finance and Surface Transport in the Narendra Modi Government (2014-2019) as the party candidate for the April 6 byelection to Kanyakumari Lok Sabha seat, a section of Congress leaders in Tamil Nadu has asked the party high command to bring in Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, AICC general secretary as a candidate.
The seat fell vacant as Congress leader H Vasanth Kumar, who was elected to Lok Sabha in the 2019 General Election succumbed to Covid-19. Vasanth Kumar had won the 2019 Lok Sabha election by defeating Pon Radhakrishnan by more than 2.6 lakh votes. It is to be seen whether the Kanyakumari electorate would prefer this time a candidate who was thrashed in an election held two years ago.
Karti Chidambaram, MP, senior Congress leader has asked the Congress High Command to field Priyanka Gandhi Vadra from Kanyakumari as the Congress candidate and this has found acceptance among a large section of the party cadre. The people of south Tamil Nadu have been enthused by last week’s visit of her brother Rahul Gandhi MP to the three districts of Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari which are Congress strongholds.
Radhakrishnan who had won the seat in the 1999 and 2014 Lok Sabha election had been defeated from the constituency six times, making him a veteran of battles.
“ I am always available to the people of the constituency whether I am in power or not and this makes them come to me for all their needs. Ill continue to do what I could to help the people,” said Radhakrishnan.
M Ravinson, lawyer and a senior citizen from Kanyakumari said as the constituency happens to be a stronghold of the Congress, the result is a foregone conclusion. Radhakrishnan won in 1999 because of support by the DMK while in 2014, the Congress, the DMK and the BJP fought separately.
There were reports that the BJP would field a new face but the announcement has made it clear that the party in Tamil Nadu is still under the control of Ponnar, as Radhakrishnan is addressed.