Dejected Muraleedharan to no longer compete in elections, says Modi and Pinarayi came to Thrissur for campaigning but no one came for him

THRISSUR: After falling to third position at Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency, K Muraleedharan gave an emotional reaction. He said that he will no longer compete in electoral politics and has decided to stay away from the public arena. He said that if he had contested in Vadakara itself, he would have won and should not have stood for sacrifice.

He also lashed out at the Congress leadership. Muraleedharan said that the leadership did not intervene much despite a strong triangular contest. "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 complained.

In 2019, when Muralidharan was the sitting MLA of Vattiyoorkavu, he enterd LS election fray to compete against P Jayarajan. Muraleedharan came out winning in Vadakara, a place where when many others were reluctant to contest. After that, he came from Vadakara to close BJP's only Assembly seat in Nemom in the assembly elections in 2021. Though he had to settle for the third position, votes secured by Muraleedharan was crucial to defeat the BJP.

This time he shifted to Thrissur after starting his campaign in Vadakara. Muraleedharan was brought to K Karunakaran's Thrissur as a lightning move after his sister Padmaja Venugopal left the Congress and joined the BJP. It was the decision of opposition leader VD Satheesan to land his brother Murali in Thrissur.