THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With the announcement of K. Muraleedharan and T. Siddique as candidates for Vatakara and Wayanad, the Congress list is complete.
Indian Union Muslim League state president Panakkad Hyderali Shihab Thangal and KPCC president Mullappally Ramachandran have expressed confidence in them.
Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala who was initially upset over losing Wayanad to 'A' group was happy when his group leader got Vadakara.
Congress is notorious for announcing candidates at the last minute. But once the final list arrives, the candidature would be getting acceptance from a cross-section of party workers.
Similarly, when Mr Muraleedharan’s name came before Mukul Wasnik, the AICC general secretary in-charge of the state, he wholeheartedly welcomed it.
The UDF camp is upbeat. The Thangal felt his entry would help UDF romp home in other constituencies as well.
Mr Ramachandran said things happened at the right moment as Vatakara was becoming a headache for him where there was a compulsion on him from all quarters to defend his sitting seat.
“Congress president Rahul Gandhi will be returning to New Delhi from North East late on Tuesday. I am staying back in New Delhi as there are some more formalities to be completed regarding the candidature of Mr Siddique and Mr Muraleedharan,” he told DC. An elated Mr Muraleedharan said it was RMP leader K. K. Rema’s initiative that pulled him into the electoral battle.
“Congress will come up trumps in Vatakara as this is a fight between democracy and murderous politics,” he told DC.
CWC member Oommen Chandy rejected Mr Chennithala's demand to field Shanimol Usman or V. V. Prakash or K. P. Abdul Majeed from Wayanad as he was keen to bring in his loyalist.
A source close to Mr Chennithala said instead of showing high handedness, he was keen to convey the message that he is standing for the party’s interest.
“Even though he was upset with the ‘I’ group’s Wayanad being snatched away, he signed on the dotted line and submitted the proposal before Mr Wasnik before leaving for Kochi. It made things easy for the AICC to fix Mr Siddique,” he told DC.
