Surprise never ends in Thrissur and this time, it was sprung by the late Congress veteran K. Karunakaran’s children. If his daughter Padmaja Venugopal made an unexpected move by joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday, the voters are more jolted by the entry of his son K. Muraleedharan as the Congress candidate in Thrissur on Friday.
The fielding of Mr. Muraleedharan in Thrissur, replacing T.N. Prathapan, the sitting MP, was a surprise move by the Congress in the wake of Mr. Muraleedharan’s sister’s shift to the BJP camp. The change was brought forth at a time when Mr. Prathapan had completed one round of his ‘Journey of love against hatred’ in the entire constituency. Thousands of posters had been printed and party activists had begun wall writings for him across the constituency. Mr. Prathapan had even launched his campaign on Thursday after paying floral tributes at the K. Karunakaran Smrithi Mandapam.
Erase and replace
Now that the picture has changed, Congress workers are on a mission to efface Mr. Prathapan’s wall writings and replace them with Mr. Muraleedharan’s. Mr. Prathapan himself inaugurated the wall writing for Mr. Muraleedharan near his house on Friday. DCC president Jose Vallur accompanied him. As there was confusion till the last minute, writings were made on walls in many places without mentioning the name of the candidate. “The party’s decision is my decision. T.N. Prathapan as an individual is not important. The party has to take decisions according to changing situations,” Mr. Prathapan said.
Rivals’ response
Responding to the change, Left Democratic Front (LDF) candidate and former Agriculture Minister V.S. Sunil Kumar said the change would not make any difference to the LDF in Thrissur. “The LDF will win in Thrissur. We are not concerned about the rival candidate. It is the internal matter of the Congress. Migration from the Congress to the BJP is not new,” he said.
Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate and actor Suresh Gopi welcomed the change and said it would thicken the plot. “The election will become more interesting now. Let the voters decide,” Mr. Gopi said.
With a clear picture emerging on the candidates’ front, Thrissur is all set for a tight triangular fight in the Lok Sabha election.
