'Former MLA ditched Palakkad, give me just a year', says C Krishnakumar

PALAKKAD: The sweltering heat in Palakkad was set to leave by four in the evening. Very soon, the city alleys witnessed rapturous sloganeering of ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ and in the centre of packed supporters emerged the bespectacled candidate of BJP — C Krishnakumar.

CK as he is fondly called, is a man of little words. At every gathering, he would speak in a low cadence and would make sure that his speech wouldn't exceed three minutes. One may wonder how the soft-spoken man espousing humility gained such a follower base in Palakkad.

CK is a good listener. He would even spend hours listening to people's worries rather than giving a political monologue from a podium, much like other contemporary politicians.

C Krishnakumar:

' At every meeting, we are highlighting the atrocious work of the state government, which is causing distress to the farmers by not storing paddy even after a month of harvesting. Supplyco is not procuring rice from our farmers to help the Andhra lobby. Due to the financial crisis, the farmers are forced to sell rice at a lower price. Despite reports of farmer deaths, there has been nothing from the state government to resolve the issue. The farmers are supported by the Kisan Samani Nidhi given by the central government. The elections will reflect the strong sentiment against the left and right fronts.

Despite not even having a BJP MLA, it was the NDA government that brought development to Palakkad. This is evidenced by the Chunnambuthara flyover, BOC road flyover, and Kadukkamkunnam flyover sanctioned when O. Rajagopal was Railway Minister to the allocation of 3,806 crores for the Palakkad Industrial Smart City.

However, UDF has demolished the town hall. Former MLA made Palakkad government medical college a den of corruption and illegal appointments. The former MLA also ditched the constituency and it has thus made it important for someone with a pulse of Palakkad to reach the legislative assembly and address our issues. Give me just one and a half years. If proved a failure, people can change their decision in the 2026 assembly elections.”