Congress first list triggers anger; K Sudhakaran, Adoor Prakash left out

NEW DELHI: While there is growing demand within the Congress party to give fair representation to backward communities in winnable seats in the Assembly elections, prominent leaders from the Ezhava community, K Sudhakaran and Adoor Prakash, have been left out of the candidate list. This is part of the high command’s decision that MPs should not contest the assembly elections. The move is being seen as the first step in sidelining backward communities. This has led to strong anger within the community.

K. Sudhakaran, who had announced his candidature in Kannur, has not backed down. Adoor Prakash has expressed interest in contesting again from Konni. Both leaders have strong public support and have previously won from these seats. As efforts to persuade them failed, the party released its first list of 55 candidates without including these constituencies. The leadership is now trying to resolve the issue by fielding candidates acceptable to them. These seats may be included in the next list.

K Sudhakaran had reached Delhi on Tuesday morning as per the high command’s direction. Senior leader Ramesh Chennithala met him at his residence to hold discussions. However, Sudhakaran remained firm in his stand. Reports say that the leadership offered to consider his supporters as candidates. They also assured minister posts and positions in boards and corporations if the party comes to power. There were indications that Sudhakaran would meet Rahul Gandhi. However, Sudhakaran did not step out during the day, and reports claim that he was not given time to meet Rahul Gandhi.

Sudhakaran said he was not invited for any discussion and felt ignored. Kozhikode MP M K Raghavan, who had expressed interest in contesting the assembly elections, met him at his residence. Candidates have already been announced in Kozhikode North and Elathur, where Raghavan had shown interest. Adoor Prakash had obtained a no-objection certificate from Kerala House in Delhi to contest from Konni. Sudhakaran has said he will meet the media in Delhi today, and this has created concern within the party leadership.

Congress will face yet another setback if it ignores backward communities
Surveys conducted by the Congress have shown that ignoring backward communities could lead to another setback in the Assembly elections. The Congress had faced losses in the last two elections. Leaders are being accused of giving in to pressure from religious groups, while not showing the same concern for backward communities. In Thiruvananthapuram district, which has 14 seats, candidates have been announced in only three seats. This is being cited as an example of this issue.