Likes and comments on post against Chief Minister; CPM drops candidate, B Sreekantan to contest as independent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The leader who was denied the CPM candidacy for liking and commenting in favour of a social media post shared against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is preparing to contest as an independent. The candidate who is preparing to contest as an independent is CPM leader and former panchayat president Muthippara B Sreekantan.

Sreekantan campaigned for three days as the CPM candidate in the Muthippara ward of Pullampara Grama Panchayat in Venjaramoodu. He was dropped after this. It is reported that Sreekantan, who submitted his resignation letter to the local secretary, will contest as an independent. The party leadership asked Sreekantan to withdraw from the contest while he was campaigning by putting up posters. Sreekantan later announced that he was resigning from the primary membership.

Sreekantan, who served as Pullampara local committee secretary, panchayat vice president and CITU regional secretary, is currently the chairman of the panchayat development standing committee. It is reported that the district committee instructed the state leadership to remove Sreekantan from the list of candidates after he commented favorably on a post on social media against the Chief Minister and his family.