District Congress Committee findings point to erosion of party votes

The district leadership has arrived at the conclusion that a section of traditional Congress votes had gone in favour of BJP candidate O. Rajagopal.

The DCC finding is based on the ground-level reports submitted by party leaders regarding the voting pattern and vote percentage right from the booth level.

The report, which has been prepared on the KPCC president’s directive, has accused Deputy Speaker N. Shakthan of being indifferent during the elections. The Kattakada MLA was angry over denial of a berth in the Oommen Chandy cabinet.

Party sources said Mr Shakthan’s work was in tune with the Nadar community’s interests.

In other words, the district leadership has accused Mr Shakthan of helping LDF candidate Bennet Abraham who belongs to the Nadar community. The DCC also expressed displeasure over the election work in Nemom and Kattakada constituencies.

However, it came to a strange conclusion that despite erosion of votes and sulking Shakthan, Mr Shashi Tharoor would win the Thiruvananthapuram seat though with a reduced margin. The Congress candidate had won the seat with a record margin of nearly one lakh votes in 2009.

Meanwhile, the DCC leadership expressed satisfaction over the election work in Attingal and hoped to clinch the constituency from the LDF.

The DCC report comes close on the heels CPM leader M.Vijayakumar’s allegations that the Congress had shifted votes to the BJP in Thiruvananthapuram and Vattiyoorkavu Assembly segments.

He said the vote transfer had taken place at the behest of Health Minister V.S. Sivakumar and that the results would prove the charge beyond doubt.