Amidst speculation that former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy will contest the Assembly elections from Nemom constituency in Thiruvananthapuram, hundreds of women Congress workers took to the road and protested against him leaving Putuppalli seat when senior Congress leaders arrived at his residence here on Saturday. .
The drama began at around 9 pm after reports came in New Delhi that Srichandi would arrive home after discussing the list of Congress candidates with the leadership of the party.
A large number of party workers gathered near his house and shouted slogans against the attempt to field Mr. Pandey from any seat other than Pappupalli.
Tensions in the air increased when a band of supporters attacked Srichandi’s car, declaring that they would not let their long-time MLA leave Puthupalli. The anger boiled over when an emotionally charged supporter, holding a party flag in his hand, climbed onto the roof of Srichandi’s house and threatened to jump.
The 77-year-old leader, a two-time chief minister, has been representing Puthupalli in the state assembly for the last 51 years since 1970.
As the protests continued, senior Congress leaders, including Casey Joseph and District Congress Committee President Joshi Philip, rushed to the spot and attempted to pacify the party workers, though with little success. Subsequently, Srichandi held discussions with the local leadership of the Congress and assured supporters that he would not leave Puthupalli to contest elections in Nimom.
“The candidates in 81 constituencies have been finalized and my name has been given as the candidate in Puthupalli. Neither the state nor the central leadership has asked Neom to contest the election. I fully understand and accept the sentiments of party workers and followers. Chandy said that I have no way to leave Puthupalli.
However, he did not rule out the possibility of contesting from two seats, stating that ‘it was up to the leadership of the party to decide on all such matters’.
Meanwhile, DCC President Joshi Philip said that he had already sent a letter demanding Srichandi not to be transferred from Puthupalli. According to him, Srichandi’s presence in the seat will be important for the party in Central Kerala.
The protests came as a major embarrassment for the Congress leadership, which wants to field as a strong candidate in Nimom – the BJP seat.
Apart from Shrikhande, the Congress high command also had to consider making Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala as its candidate in the assembly constituency.
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