Cong to field Muraleedharan in Wayanad? He might demand another key position

KOZHIKODE: In order to pacify senior Congress leader K Muraleedharan, who said he will stay away from politics after the defeat in Thrissur, KPCC president K Sudhakaran will meet him at 3 pm today.

KPCC could opt to field Muraleedharan in Wayanad, where by-elections are likely to be held. But Muraleedharan may not give in to this. Moreover, he might demand the post of KPCC president. There are also reports that Priyanka Gandhi may contest as UDF candidate in the Wayanad constituency.

Muraleedharan had said that he would not contest in the elections after he fell to the third position in the Lok Sabha elections and decided to stay away from the public arena. He also lashed out against the Congress leadership.

In an emotional response, Muraleedharan said that he would've won if contested in Vadakara, and that he shouldn't have stood for sacrifice. He further alleged that the leadership did not intervene much despite the strong triangular contest in the constituency.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Thrissur several times to campaign for NDA candidate Suresh Gopi. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan also came for LDF candidate VS Sunil Kumar. But no one came for me," Muraleedharan said.

In 2019, when he was the sitting MLA of Vattiyoorkavu, Muraleedharan came to face P Jayarajan in Vadakara on the instructions of the party in the Lok Sabha elections. He came for the party and won in Vadakara when many others were reluctant to contest there.

There were rumours that Muraleedharan would contest in Vadakara as UDF candidate, but after his sister Padmaja joined the BJP, his candidacy was shifted to Thrissur. Shafi Parambil, who contested in his place in Vadakara, won by a majority of more than 1 lakh votes against the popular left leader KK Shailaja.