No Rahul? UDF paralysed by indecision in Wayanad

KOZHIKODE: The continuing uncertainty over the candidature of Congress president Rahul Gandhi in Wayanad has dampened the UDF’s election campaign in the constituency with euphoria among party workers slowly giving way to disappointment.

The party leaders are finding it difficult to give convincing answers to workers for the delay in naming the candidate in the constituency even six days after Kerala leaders, led by former chief minister Oommen Chandy, declared that Rahul will be contesting from Wayanad last Saturday.

Wayanad district Congress committee president IC Balakrishnan on Thursday made public his concerns, saying that it will be a big let-down for party workers if Rahul decides not to contest from Wayanad and that it will have an impact across the state.

“It is natural for workers to get disappointed if candidates in just two constituencies are not named in the campaign season,” Balakrishnan told media. Kozhikode DCC president, T Siddique, who was initially chosen by the KPCC, had himself announced that he was withdrawing from contesting to make way for Rahul.

The jubilations of the Congress and UDF workers over the proposed candidature of Rahul have waned over the past three days as the Congress president remained indecisive.

The party has been finding itself hamstrung even to start public campaigning and leaders were left in an unenviable situation of having to hold assembly level conventions in the constituency without any finality about the candidate. This was even as the LDF candidate P P Suneer has completed his second round of campaigning in the constituency. The IUML too is learnt to have conveyed the message to Congress leadership that the uncertainty should not be allowed to drag any further.

The delay in declaring the candidature of UDF candidate K Muraleedharan is also affecting the campaign in Vadakara, where he is pitted against CPM strongman P Jayarajan in a highstakes political battle. Though Muraleedharan is moving ahead with his campaign, the UDF camp fears that any further delay would affect the momentum gained by the front with Muraleedharan stepping into the fray.