Palakkad: M.B. Rajesh, two-time MP from Palakkad constituency where the CPM had six straight victories since 1996, has said that there was a conspiracy which led to his shocking defeat this time at the hands of DCC president and UDF candidate V.K. Sreekandan.
Mr Rajesh said that even though Mannarkad was a pro-UDF assembly segment, the lead of 29,625 votes obtained by Mr Sreekandan was crucial in deciding his fate in the polls.
"The complaint that came up about a female college student getting tortured at the party office in Cherpulassery (Shornur) was completely baseless and the owner of a self-financing college, was behind it," Mr Rajesh told mediapersons here on Friday.
The alleged factionalism in CPM with the complaint of misbehaving with a DYFI woman leader against Shornur MLA P.K. Sasi and the six-month suspension of the MLA from the party was also a concern for the party during in the run-up to the LS polls.
In Shornur, Ottapalam and Kongad assembly segments where the party had won with notable margins in 2016 assembly polls, the same dominance was not visible this time.
Specifically in Kongad, the lead of the party was 13,271 in the last assembly polls and it considerably fell to just 345 votes in the Lok Sabha polls.
However, Shornur MLA P.K. Sasi said here on Friday that he had no role in the defeat of Mr Rajesh. "I didn't have any major party assignment during campaign. I campaigned in Shornur, but did not get the expected result. The party needs to look into it," Mr Sasi said.
