Following the three-day Chinthan Shivir at Udaipur, the Congress in Kerala has upped the ante in the campaign for the Thrikkakara Assembly constituency where a bypoll is scheduled for May 31.
K Sudhakaran, president of KPCC and VD Satheeshan, Leader of the Opposition have stationed themselves in the constituency and have deployed all the Congress MLAs for the campaign. Uma Thomas, the widow of PT Thomas who has been representing the constituency since 2011 is the Congress candidate from Thrikkakara.
“Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is camping in Thrikkakkara because he is not confident of the victory of the CPI(M) candidate. Moreover, the situation in Kerala has taken a turn for the worse since the assembly election that was held in 2021,” said Sudhakaran who took time off to speak to the media on Monday.
Sudhakaran said the proposed Silver Line Semi High Speed Rail connecting Thiruvananthapuram and Kasaragod has antagonised the electorate in the State because of the high handed attitude of the CPI(M). “People are fed up with the silence of the Government over the rehabilitation proposal for those who lose their lands to the rail project. The law and order situation in the State as well as the exodus of entrepreneurs are other important factors which the CPI(M) may find it difficult to explain,” said the KPCC chief.
Sudhakaran said that he does not think the Twenty 20, the regional outfit launched by entrepreneur Sabu Jacob which has more than 13,000 votes in the constituency would vote for the CPI(M) candidate Dr Jo Joseph. “If the Twenty 20 decides to cast its votes to the Congress candidate, we will welcome the same. I too read about the People’s Welfare Front, an alliance formed by the Twenty 20 and the AAP in Kerala to fight the 2024 Lok Sabha Polls,” he said. The KPCC chief said that if the AAP-Twenty 20 combo decides to vote for the Congress, he would not say no to them. “Yes, I know we are rivals but that does not prevent us from seeking vote from them,” he said. The Twenty-20 has not fielded any one for the
bye-election.
The face off between Twenty-20 and the CPI(M) took a turn for the worse on Monday as Sreenijan, CPI(M) MLA who is also the son-in-law of former chief justice of India K G Balakrishnan took to the social media to to humiliate and ridicule Sabu Jacob.
There was a loud public outcry from all sections of the society and the MLA was asked by the party leadership to remove the posting. Sreenijan has been engaged in a wordy duel with Sabu since the latter made his presence in politics with Twenty-20.