Palakkad: Opposition leader V. S. Achuthanandan hit the campaign trail in his Malampuzha constituency on Saturday, even before his party finalised its candidates, claiming Kerala was witnessing a political wave in support of LDF.
Addressing a meeting at the CPM's Pudussery area committee office here, he said KPCC president V. M. Sudheeran had failed to keep the UDF government in check on corruption.
“Chief Minister Oommen Chandy is not giving due consideration to Mr Sudheeran's views," he alleged. “If LDF comes to power, all the controversial land allotments of this government would be scrapped."
On the issues within his party over the selection of candidates, he said differences would end once the CPM finalises its candidates. Asked if his victory margin would increase, the 92-year-old said it was up to the party workers and the people in Malampuzha to decide.
In 2011, he defeated Lathika Subhash of Congress by a margin of 23,440 votes and in 2006 he had won by 20,017 votes against Satheesan Pacheni in this CPM stronghold once represented by the late chief minister EK Nayanar and T. Sivadasa Menon.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, CPM's young candidate MB Rajesh, however, established a bigger lead of 31,350 votes. BJP had no candidate in 2011 here. But in 2014, its nominee Shobha Surendran cornered 23,433 votes, almost equal to Mr Achuthanandan’s victory margin last time. Palakkad being the hottest district during the summer, Mr Achuthanandan said he would campaign mostly during morning and in the afternoon.
