Posted on

Priyanka Gandhi stated that Kerala politics has become violent and is driven by tension

Priyanka Gandhi

On Wednesday, Indian National Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said that the politics in Kerala has become violent and it is driven by tension due to policies of the Left Democratic Front (LDF). While addressing a public meeting in Chalakudy in Kerala, Priyanka Gandhi vadra said, “Politics in Kerala has become violent, driven by tension due to policies of LDF. We propose to set up a peace and harmony department to ensure that this kind of tension, political murders do not continue to happen, and politics of anger and hate is challenged.”

In the run-up to the Kerala election, AICC general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala said that there is a secret nexus between Pinarayi Vijayan, Adani Group and Narendra Modi government. Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala of INC said that it was the duty of the election commission (EC) to prepare a meticulous and error-free voters’ list.

Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala also stated, “BJP wants 6-7 seats in Kerala, CPM needs power. They have come together for this.”

The Election Commission of India was ordered by the Kerala high court to ensure that there is no double voting by any voter in the state assembly election.

Kerala will see the Left Democratic Front (LDF), which is led by the Communist Party of India(Marxist) or CPI(M), cross paths with the United Democratic Front (UDF) led by Congress These coalitions have held power in the southern state alternately over the last four decades. The LDF had won the 2016 Kerala assembly election as it won 91 out of 140 seats.  Kerala would go to polls on April 6.

Posted on

Former Kerala women wing president Lathika Subhash to contest the Kerala election as independent candidate

Lathika_subhash

Lathika Subhash, the former president of Kerala’s Congress women’s wing would be contesting from the Ettumanoor assembly constituency, Kottayam, as an independent candidate in the upcoming Kerala election 2021. She will be contesting under an election symbol of autorickshaw. She is known for her protests against the inadequate representation of women in Kerala politics.

Elaborating on her reason to not join any party for the election, Lathika stated, “I am not going to any other party for the upcoming Assembly election because I was a Congress worker. How can I go to another party?”

Placing forward her candidature as an independent candidate, she stated that people from every caste and religion can vote her as she is a candidate with immense freedom.

On March 14, she had her head tonsured in front of the Congress office in Thiruvananthapuram after being denied the party ticket for the elections.

Placing her views on her activism, she stated, “Not only for women in politics but in all walks of life. Women are saying they will vote for me because I raised my voice for the cause of women. So, I am confident they will give me their votes. And youngsters too are promoting me. So, I am confident, I will win.”

She further added, “My protest was against those people who crumbled the womenfolk in all walks of life. Not only the Congress party or CPI(M) or BJP, but every political party. It was for a noble cause, not for my seat. This time, Kerala Students Union (KSU) President got a ticket to contest, Youth Congress President also is going to become the MLA for the third time”.

Kerala will see the Left Democratic Front (LDF), which is led by the Communist Party of India(Marxist) or CPI(M), cross paths with the United Democratic Front (UDF) led by Congress. These coalitions have held power in the southern state alternately over the last four decades. The LDF had won the 2016 Kerala assembly election as it won 91 out of 140 seats. Kerala would go to polls on April 06 & the vote counting would take place on May 02.

Posted on

PC Thomas’s party left the BJP-led NDA and is set to join Congress-led UDF

Kerala’s political landscape witnessed chaotic rumbling after PC Tomas-led party left the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). The faction led by Thomas, which had earlier broke off from the Kerala Congress, took the decision late on Tuesday night after not getting a single seat for contesting in the upcoming Assembly election.

Thomas served as Union minister of state for law and justice in Atal Bihari Vajpayee government from 2003 to 2004. He has also been a six-term Lok Sabha MP from 1989 to 2009 from Muvattupuzha in Kerala.

Thomas said that in the last election, his faction contested on four constituencies, but this time, the BJP was not ready to part with a single seat. He further said that his faction will merge with Kerala Congress (Joseph) and will become part of the Congress-led United Democratic Front or UDF.

Also Read: Shashi Tharoor placed at the centre of the INC’s youth-based approach to the Kerala election 2021

Thomas had helped the NDA register its maiden electoral victory in Kerala in 2004. In the previous five elections, Thomas was a candidate of the Kerala Congress (Mani), an ally of the Congress-led UDF.

However, soon after the May 2001 assembly polls, he fell out with his mentor, state revenue minister KM Mani.

Mani was apparently of the view that Thomas stood in the way of his son and political heir Jose K Mani’s future.

Finally, Thomas moved out of Mani’s stable and formed the Indian Federal Democratic Party (IFDP), pledging support to the NDA.

Last week, former Congress leader PC Chacko quit the party, alleging group interest in deciding the party’s candidates for the Assembly polls. He joined the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Tuesday.

The election for the 140-member Kerala assembly in 14 districts will be held in a single phase on April 6. The counting of votes will take place on May 2.

Posted on

Shashi Tharoor placed at the centre of the INC’s youth-based approach to the Kerala election 2021

Announcing Shashi Tharoor’s elevation, Kerala state election committee head Oommen Chandy said that he will tour the state extensively and meet a cross-section of people including youngsters before preparing a manifesto for the upcoming election in Kerala.

Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, also a Member of Parliament from Thiruvananthapuram has been made the Kerala election manifesto committee head as the party got into the poll mode with the arrival of the three-member All India Congress Committee (AICC) observers headed by Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot.

Chandy said that the party will take enough measures to attract the youth and fulfill their aspirations. “Our manifesto will reflect people’s aspirations and emotions. It will set the tone for the poll,” Chandy said. Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala will begin his state-wide yatra on January 31.

This is the first time that the state unit is giving a key responsibility to the three-time MP. A hit among youngsters, the party is all set to use Tharoor’s social media outreach and inspiring lectures and writings to its advantage.

The party’s central leadership has given strict instructions to the state unit to field more youngsters and women in the April-May assembly elections. The party pressed the emergency button after the ruling CPI (M) notched an emphatic win in the local body elections last month. In a recent poll survey also, the majority supported Pinarayi Vijayan as the first choice for next CM and it forced many Congress leaders to close their ranks and work for victory.

Going by the poll history of the state which never gives the incumbent a chance to continue in power, the Congress was overconfident but local body results dented its expectations and the party high command stepped in.

AICC observers Gehlot, former Goa CM Luizinho Faleior, and former Karnataka deputy CM G Parameswara, who arrived in the state (on Friday) held a series of talks with leaders and party legislators, and MPs. They also met sulking leader K V Thomas, former Union minister, and got an assurance from him that he would not leave the party. He will be given a new position, possibly the post of the working president, said a senior leader.

Denied a Lok Sabha seat in the last election, Thomas was sulking for some time after the state leadership failed to accommodate him properly. He had approached the party seeking an assembly seat but he was told that there were specific instructions from the party high command to try more young leaders this time. After this, he started charting out his future plans and turned to the Left. Thomas later said that party president Sonia Gandhi had called him and he assured her that he will work to strengthen the party.