THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Congress Working Committee member A K Antony unleashed the sympathy factor in Aryanad calling upon voters to think of former Speaker G Karthikeyan’s smiling face while queuing up before the polling booth on June 27.
He was inaugurating the UDF convention at Aryanad in support of the Congress candidate and Karthikeyan’s son K S Sabarinathan on Saturday. The Congress leader said that Karthikeyan had lived, breathed and worked for the people of Aruvikkara.
“The development of this constituency was top of his agenda. He even got me to set aside Rs 50 lakh for tribal development. One can never forget his contribution,” he said.
Mr Antony lauded Sabarinathan saying that the UDF had chosen the right candidate. “Sabarinathan is a well qualified representative of the new generation. He is the right choice to carry forward the legacy of his father,” Antony said and recollected an instance during his tenure as chief minister when Sabarinathan had fought against a particular student outfit’s ban on activities in the College of Engineering Thiruvananthapruam campus.
The Congress veteran devoted most part of his speech to recalling the great service rendered by Karthikeyan.
Antony said the CPM was almost 25 years behind and hence not in sync with present day Kerala. “The state does not require the CPM brand of confrontation politics but politics of development,” he added.
He lauded the Oommen Chandy government saying that it had secured A plus compared to all other states in implementing development policies with a human face.
Antony criticised the Narendra Modi government accusing it of failing to control the prices of essential commodities. While the price of crude oil was decreasing internationally, the Central government was increasing the prices of diesel and petrol resulting in unprecedented price rise, he said.
Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said that the LDF had failed to win even a single poll after the 2006 Assembly poll. He claimed that the UDF’s victory in Aruvikkara would lead to a win in local bodies and Assembly elections next year.
KPCC president V M Sudheeran, UDF leaders P K Kunhalikutty, K M Mani, M P Veerendrakumar, A A Azeez, Rajan Babu and C P John spoke on the occasion. Karthikeyan’s wife also addressed the convention.
