THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Youth Congress leaders are a frustrated lot over the indifference shown by the KPCC leadership towards their demand for representation in the Assembly elections.
The electoral chances of KPCC executive committee member and the only general secretary to get elected in the Youth Congress, D. V. Vinod Krishna, chairman of Kerala State Youth Commission R. V. Rajesh, Youth Congress state general secretaries G. Leena and Jebi Mather are still uncertain. They hope that Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi will intervene in their favour replacing the senior leaders who have been contesting for several terms.
The youth leaders feel that the senior leaders are denying them a chance to come up in the party. Vamanapuram is considered as the stronghold of the CPM from where the UDF has never won since 1977.
However, the LDF has been winning from Vamanapuram with a margin of less than 5000 votes. Young candidates were not considered in this constituency. Vamanapuram has a sizeable population of middle class Ezhava, Nair and Muslim communities. YC leaders feel this is where a newcomer like Vinod Krishna, an Ezhava leader, can be tested. He has the strong support of several senior leaders of the party and is married to a Christian girl.
"My father, C. Divakaran, passed away when I was in the 8th standard and I had to do all kinds of menial jobs to earn a living. Senior leaders complain that majority of us don't have leadership qualities. How can they say so without giving us an opportunity?" said Vinod Krishna, 38.
Currently, KPCC vice president M. M. Hassan is eyeing Vamanapuram or Kayamkulam. In the case of Nedumangad and Kovalam constituencies, the CPI or the Congress has been winning with a margin of below 5000 votes and the JDS with over 7,000 votes.
