Kerala: Snubbed by Thrissur voters, Congress leader K Muraleedharan announces break from politics
By Aishwarya Nair | First Published Jun 5, 2024, 1:29 PM ISTK Muraleedharan, disappointed by the split in minority votes and the ineffective Congress campaign that led to the BJP's victory in Kerala's Thrissur, announced he would take a break from active politics.
Thrissur: UDF candidate K Muraleedharan declared on Tuesday (June 04) that he will take a break from active politics, citing disappointment with the ineffective Congress campaign that allowed BJP to win Thrissur.
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Reacting to the election results, a disappointed K Muraleedharan stated that he would have won if he had contested from his incumbent seat of Vadakara. The Congress leadership shifted Muraleedharan to Thrissur at the last minute in an attempt to counter Suresh Gopi's popularity and mitigate the impact of his sister Padmaja Venugopal's switch to the BJP.
Muraleedharan expressed that his disappointment would have been less if the Left candidate had won. He announced, "I have decided to stay away from contesting elections anymore as I have lost the mood to contest polls. I would stay away from public life for some time."
Highlighting the unprecedented failure in Thrissur was due to a split in minority votes, Muraleedharan said, "There was consolidation of Muslim votes in areas like Guruvayur where UDF got a lead. But, in LDF strongholds like Thanniyam and Madakkathara, the BJP got the upper hand, which shows anti-LDF sentiments."
“PM Modi came to Thrissur thrice for Suresh Gopi’s campaign. Pinarayi Vijayan campaigned for Sunilkumar. But no national leader, except D K Shivakumar, came to campaign for me,” he said.
"Since I reached Thrissur on March 9, I haven't noticed any negative trends. This, I believe, changed after Thrissur Pooram."
He claimed, "There was a plot behind the Thrissur pooram mess, and it benefited the BJP."
BJP candidate Suresh Gopi received 4,12,338 votes, defeating CPI’s VS Sunil Kumar (3,37,652 votes) by a margin of 74,686 votes, data from the Election Commission of India (ECI) said. Congress candidate K Muraleedharan, who was strategically moved by his party from his incumbent seat of Vadakara to Thrissur to counter Suresh Gopi, finished third with 3,28,124 votes.
Lok Sabha Elections 2024: BJP opens account in Kerala as Suresh Gopi takes Thrissur
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