Kannur District Congress Committee (DCC) secretary C. Raghunath on Thursday filed his nomination to contest against Chief Minister and Left Democratic Front candidate Pinarayi Vijayan in the Dharmadam constituency in the Assembly elections.
He submitted his nomination papers even though the Congress was yet to officially announce its candidate in the constituency.
Mr. Raghunath filed his nomination soon after Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee working president K. Sudhakaran declined the KPCC and party high command request to contest against Mr. Vijayan and backed him.
Mr. Sudhakaran took the decision after an hour-long meeting at his office with the district leaders.
He told mediapersons that the KPCC and the high command had requested him to contest from Dharmadam. However, local Congress leaders contended that if Mr. Sudhakaran contested in the constituency, it would not benefit the Congress campaign.
Political agenda
He said the political agenda of the United Democratic Front was to win the five constituencies in the district. For this he had to actively work in all the five segements.
Mr. Sudhakaran seemed acutely aware that Mr. Vijayan had a head start in the electioneering.
“Moreover, there is not enough time left for even primary preparation in Dharmadam,” he added.
Mr. Sudhakaran said the DCC had informed the high command and the KPCC to name Mr. Raghunath as the candidate in Dharmadam. Mr. Raghunath’s name had come up even before the Congress toyed with the plan to back the Walayar mother who has already announced her candidacy.
Meanwhile, Mr Raghunath told The Hindu that he decided to file the nomination after getting the nod of the State leadership and the high command.
KPCC president Mullappally Ramachandran later told The Hindu that Mr. Sudhakaran’s desire for a face-off with Mr. Vijayan had dissuaded the KPCC from searching for an alternative candidate. Mr. Sudhakaran’s nominee would be the party's standard-bearer against Mr. Vijayan, he said.
