Kochi: KPCC president Mullapally Ramachandran is hoping against hope that the UDF will score a sixer in the coming Assembly by-elections in Vattiyoorkavu, Konni, Aroor, Ernakulam, Pala and Manjeshwa-ram.
He based his claim on the UDF’s near sweep of the Lok Sabha elections in the state when it won 19 of the 20 seats. Mullappally had then predicted that it will be 20: 20. But the situation has changed much after the results with the Congress in disarray everywhere in the wake of the NDA’s stunning electoral gains and the bowing out of Rahul Gandhi as president of the party.
A senior KPCC general secretary expressed do-ubts over Mullappaly’s claim. He told DC that out of the four Congress seats of Vattiyoorkavu, Konni, Aroor and Ernakulam, the fight will be tough except in Konni and Ernakulam.
“The Congress is in a poor shape in Vattiyoo-rkavu and Aroor. When former speaker G. Kar-thikeyan died, the party plunged into election work in Aruvikkara months ahead of the by-election. But in Chen-gannur, the work started only after the poll date was announced. This was reflected in the results with Karthike-yan’s son K. S. Sabar-inadhan winning from Aruvikkara hands down,” he said.
The office-bearers had camped in Aruvikkara weeks ahead of the poll under the leadership of the then chief minister Oommen Chandy. But now the Congress has launched no activity at the ground level with local level leadership almost defunct.
Mullapally, Chandy and Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala have to revive the fortunes of the party by revamping the KPCC by July 31.
