Congress, BJP and LDF set the stage for ‘star war’ in Pathanapuram
trivandrum — Pathanapuram constituency in Quilon district is set to witness a star war with the Congress fielding a comedian and the Bharatiya Janata Party a villain to take on sitting MLA K.B. Ganesh Kumar, a former villain.
Ganesh, who won the seat thrice since 2001 as a Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) candidate is contesting the assembly poll this time with the support of opposition Left Democratic Front (LDF).
Jagadish, who has been fielded by the Congress to retain the seat, started his campaign by recalling the events, including Ganesh’s alleged illicit relations with solar scam accused Saritha S. Nair, which led to Ganesh’s resignation from the Oommen Chandy government in April 2014 and his subsequent exit from the UDF.
Addressing his first public meeting in the constituency after his name was cleared by the Congress high command on Monday; the actor said that his colleague was still trying to use Saritha for his gains.
The remark was a veiled reference to the leak of a note purported to have been written by Saritha raising sexual allegations against Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Sunday. He said that he had no doubt that the note was fabricated by his colleague. “Having worked with him (Ganesh) for 30 years, I clearly know his handwriting. He is capable of doing this and more for his personal gains. My friend, don’t try to play such tricks on us,” Jagadish said, adding that he had severed his friendship with his rival due to his wayward life.
Ganesh, who had won the seat by a margin of 20,402 votes in the 2011 elections, has so far not made any attempt to counter his colleague. His new friends in the LDF are also tight-lipped since they had used the discord in his family for running a campaign against him. Opposition leader V.S. Achuthanandan, against whom Ganesh showered abusive words, has left it to the voters to decide their choice by taking into account his past and presence.
Ganesh undeterred by these remarks is silently carrying on his campaign by rekindling his contacts in the constituency. He hopes the politically enlightened electorate at Pathanapuram will weigh his track record as MLA and minister while making their choice.
However, Ganesh’s campaign managers are worried over the BJP decision to field fellow actor Bheeman Raghu as their candidature. This will indeed make the contest a strong triangular fight. If Raghu raises the BJP vote share, it may hurt Ganesh the most, they fear.
The BJP has been steadily increasing its votes at Pathanapuram over the years. The party votes went up from 6.06 per cent in the 2011 Assembly election to 10.33 per cent in the 2014 Lok Sabha election. Raghu said he was hopeful that he could win the seat.