THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Padmaja Venugopal's brother and Congress leader K Muraleedharan said that the BJP will not get any benefit by taking Padmaja. Muraleedharan clarified that Padmaja was made to contest only in the seats that they were sure to win and he won't be having any further relationship with her.

"The news that Padmaja has joined the BJP is unfortunate. I saw in some news that she faced neglect from the Congress party and that some people tried to backstab her in the contested elections. But the Congress party has always given priority to Padmaja. In 2011, I was nominated by the party in the Vattiyoorkavu constituency, a place where most of the seats were won by the LDF. I won that seat by 10,000 votes. Vadakara is a constituency that the LDF won despite the sympathy following the deaths of Rajiv Gandhi and Indira Gandhi. I won there by 84,000 votes. It's not my skill, it's because the party and the people stood with me," Muraleedharan said.

"But Padmaja has been contested in seats where there is a possibility of winning. They lost by more than one and a half lakh votes that day. Even the candidate who won could not believe it. The same was the case in 2011, Padmaja lost by 7000 votes in a seat won by 10,000 votes the previous time. She was given a seat in Thrissur in the last election. There too she lost by 1000 votes. Will someone lose elections through backstabbing alone? If so, I have been backstabbed by many people. I'm not going to complain. The people decide everything."

"Even though I had to leave the party once, I never considered joining the BJP. Because K Karunakaran is a person who has never compromised with communalism. When the BJP get someone from the family of K Karunakaran, it is sad news for the secularists. We will not lose, we will fight hard."

"The BJP will not get an ounce of benefit by taking Padmaja. We will push the BJP to the third position everywhere in Kerala. There is no doubt about it. UDF will work together for this. We will avenge this betrayal. Padmaja was nurtured by the Congress. I won't be having any further relationship with Padmaja," Muraleedharan added.