Kochi: Thrikkakara MLA and prominent Congress leader Benny Behanan who was among the controversial five Congress leaders who were opposed by KPCC chief V M Sudheeran in contesting this election, on Monday announced that his was withdrawing from fray.
Addressing a hurriedly called press conference here, he said that he was withdrawing as his candidature was not to the liking of the KPCC chief who had proposed other names for the Thrikkakara Assembly seat.
Behanan who is a close confidante of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, said that he was withdrawing as he did not want to precipitate a crisis for the Chief Minister or the party. He also asserted that the KPCC observers and the party workers were absolutely sure of his winning chances in Thrikkakara constituency.
“I don’t think that the position of an MLA is the ultimate aim of a public servant. Not even the opposition leaders have raised any allegation with authority either in the Assembly or outside. I don’t want to become a candidate by scuttling the chances of someone else. I am the son of a freedom fighter and I am making my father who refused a seat several times as my model,” he said.
“In the talks held in Kerala, the only name proposed for Thrikkakara was that of mine. Then I could understand that another name was proposed by Sudheeran in the Delhi talks. Even after solving disputes the other day, I could understand that Thrikkakara remained contentious and the KPCC president proposed other names also. So I decided to withdraw,” Behanan said.
He also said that the development works undertaken by him in the constituency will enable the next candidate to gain a handsome majority in the elections.
