Left sympathisers backed Congress to defeat 'Metroman' Sreedharan, says LDF candidate

The Left sympathisers had voted for the then sitting MLA Shafi Parambil to stop the victory of BJP's 'Metroman' E Sreedharan. Otherwise, the saffron party might have won the Palakkad Assembly seat during the previous polls, expelled Congress leader P Sarin said.

Palakkad, Kerala: Expelled Congress leader and LDF candidate in the Palakkad bypoll, P Sarin, on Sunday triggered a political row by saying that the grand old party won the constituency by receiving votes of Left sympathisers during the 2021 Assembly election here.

The Left sympathisers had voted for the then sitting MLA Shafi Parambil to stop the victory of BJP's 'Metroman' E Sreedharan. Otherwise, the saffron party might have won the Palakkad Assembly seat during the previous polls, he claimed.

This time, the Congress would lose those negative votes that had been polled for Parambil in 2021 polls, Sarin said, while speaking to reporters on the sidelines of his campaign.

What would have happened if the Left sympathisers had decided to negate Parambil in 2021? Sarin asked and sought to know whether he could win the seat without the Left votes.

He also claimed that the Left sympathisers had done that for the democratic Kerala (to check the victory of the BJP candidate in the constituency).

The remarks made by the LDF independent candidate triggered sharp reactions from political opponents.

While Congress sought to ignore Sarin's remarks with Parambil saying that they did not want to waste their time by reacting to such statements, the BJP said the political deal between the CPI(M) and the Congress became exposed through the present revelation.

"What is the issue now - My victory or the defeat of the BJP in Palakkad?," Parambil asked when his reaction was sought over the row.

He said the continuing support given by the people of Palakkad would help the party candidate win by a comfortable majority during the bypoll also.

However, BJP candidate C Krishnakumar said the saffron party's long-drawn argument about the CPI(M)-Congress nexus and political deal during elections has proved to be correct with Sarin's statement.

"What we said was correct... During the last Assembly polls, the CPI(M) had voted to Shafi Parambil to defeat Sreedharan sir (E Sreedharan)," he told reporters here.

The "unholy nexus" and "deal" between the Marxist Party and the Congress for some time has come out now, he said.

'Metroman' E Sreedharan had lost to Parambil by a meager margin of over 3,000 votes.

With his remarks triggering a political row, Sarin later came out with a clarification, saying that what he said was about some last-minute "evil ploys" made by Parambil to win the secular votes that otherwise would have been polled for the LDF.

He also charged that Parambil didn't show justice to those secular minds who had voted for him later.

A former digital media convenor of the Congress party, Sarin had protested against the selection of Youth Congress state president Rahul Mamkootathil as the candidate for the Palakkad Assembly bypoll and had levelled damaging accusations against Satheesan and Congress MP Shafi Parambil, the former MLA from here.

Subsequently, Sarin was expelled from the party at the same time he announced his intention to work with the Left Democratic Front (LDF).