ALAPPUZHA: Rebellion in the Congress could mar the electoral prospects of Shanimol Usman in Aroor.
Former Youth Congress state secretary Geetha Asokan entered the fray as a rebel accusing the leadership of ignoring local leaders and she remains in the fray when the last date for withdrawal ended on Thursday.
Ms Asokan, hailing from Haripad, plans extensive campaign across the constituency in the coming days. She is contesting with ‘television’ as her symbol.
She claims over 15 years of experience with the party with a lot of personnel connections in the constituency.
“I fight for the rights of young native leaders who were always ignored. Ms Usman is an outsider,” she told DC. “I had pressure to withdraw, but I am not going to budge. I am not a spoiler. I contest to win.”
Meanwhile, the Congress dismissed her claims and expressed confidence that it would not affect Ms Usman's prospects.
“This lady doesn't hold any positions. She might be state secretary of Youth Congress in the past,” DCC president M. Liju said. “That doesn’t mean she is still a leader. It’s CPM which prompted her to contest. When an able candidate contests in Aroor, what point this lady is going to prove?"
Ms Usman emerged as top vote-catcher in the parliamentary elections barely five months back.
She secured 65,656 votes from this segment, 648 more than A.M. Ariff of the CPM, the sitting MLA who had won in 2016 by a margin of 38,519 votes.
So the presence of the rebel could mar her chances.
Lathika Subhash, president of the Mahila Congress in Kerala, actively campaigning for Ms Usman, dismisses the rebel's presence as inconsequential.
"We don’t know who she is. We have never seen her in the party activities and we have no worries," she told DC.
Aroor had witnessed a similar scenario in 2016 when it proposed actor Siddique as its candidate.
The then DCC president A.A. Shukkur came out in open against it and posters appeared against the "outsider" forcing the KPCC to give in to the pressure.
