Thiruvananthapuram: All is not hunky-dory for sitting Alappuzha MP K.C. Venugopal, who has climbed the top echelons of Congress in lightning speed. There are moves against him in the KPCC itself to prevent him from contesting the Alappuzha seat in the coming elections. The reasons being trotted out are that he would be too busy during the elections as he has been saddled with too many responsibilites as member of CWC and core committee, screening committee for candidates, AICC organising general secretary and AICC general secretary in charge of Karnataka.
However, it is learnt that party president Rahul Gandhi has not objected to his candidature, which may finally settle the issue in his favour. “Of course, Venugopal is busy with organisational duties. But that doesn’t mean that he cannot defend his seat. He is ready and eager to contest the elections. We have already started campaign preparations in Alappuzha,” said a source close to Mr Venugopal. He blamed vested interests for the campaign against Mr Venugopal.
Huge cut-outs of Mr Venugopal, 56, have come up in different parts of the state showing his closeness to Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi. The other aspirants for the Alappuzha Lok Sabha seat are Mr Venugopal’s deputy and AICC secretary in-charge of Karnataka, P. C. Vishnunath, and Youth Congress state vice-president C. R. Mahesh who was defeated in the 2016 Assembly elections from Karunagapally by CPI’s R. Ramachandran by 1,759 votes.
Most of the Congress sitting MPs will be fighting again from their respective seats. The current MPs are Mullapally Ramachandran (Vatakara), M. K. Raghavan (Kozhikode), K. V. Thomas (Ernakulam), K. C. Venugopal (Alappuzha), Kodikunnil Suresh (Mavelikara), Anto Antony (Pathanamthitta) and Shashi Tharoor (Thiruvananthapuram). Wayanad was represented by the late M. I. Shanavas.
There is uncertainty on KPCC president Mullapally Ramachandran contesting from Vatakara. He is currently leading his Jana Maha Yatra across the state. Mr Kodikunnil Suresh, working president, has started preparations for his campaign in Mavelikara.
