THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Former KPCC president V. M. Sudheeran did not attend the finale of the Padayorukkam rally at the central stadium here which was inaugurated by Congress president-elect Rahul Gandhi on Thursday. It is learnt that he was not in favour of holding the rally at a time when the cyclone relief efforts were going on and the missing fishermen's bodies were being recovered. However, a leader close to Mr Sudheeran maintained that he had ended up in traffic block and could not reach the venue in time. He had gone to receive Mr Rahul Gandhi at the Thiruvananthapuram airport in the morning.
Group leaders maintained that Mr Sudheeran was unhappy as he was denied permission to receive Mr Rahul Gandhi at the tarmac. "Initially, the Special Protection Group had allowed only four leaders to enter the tarmac. Later, they increased the number to five, who included Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala, KPCC president M. M. Hassan, former chief minister Oommen Chandy, K. C. Venugopal MP and AICC general secretary Mukul Wasnik", said a Congress leader. When Mr Sudheeran was denied entry to the tarmac, the rest of the leaders decided not to go there. They, including Mr Sudheeran, waited at the entrance of the technical area and received Mr Rahul Gandhi.
