Angamaly: The Congress party has decided to deploy five MLAs for its campaign in Chalakudy Lok Sabha constituency after its candidate Benny Behanan was hospitalised with a heart problem early on Friday. Public interactions will go on as scheduled despite the absence of the candidate in person.
V D Satheesan, Anwar Sadath, V P Sajeendran, Roji M John and Eldhose Kunnappilly are the Congress MLAs who will step in for Behanan. They represent the North Paravur, Aluva, Kunnathunad, Angamaly and Perumbavur Assembly constituencies respectively.
Veteran Congress leader Oommen Chandy reviewed campaign strategy as Behanan took ill. Roji, Anwar, election committee secretary T U Radhakrishnan, DCC president T J Vinod and UDF district convener M O John attended the event presided by election committee chairman P J Joy.
Condition stable
Benny Behanan, the UDF Convenor and Congress' candidate for the Chalakudy Lok Sabha seat, suffered a heart attack on Friday and was admitted to a hospital in Kochi.
The 66-year-old underwent an emergency angioplasty and his condition is now stable, a party leader said.
He had reached his residence close to midnight after his election campaign. At around 2:30 am, he complained of uneasiness and was moved to the nearest hospital.
Behanan, a former two-time MLA, is pitted against veteran comedian and sitting Lok Sabha member Innocent of the CPM and BJP's A N Radhakrishnan.
He is currently in the Intensive Care Unit and has been advised bed rest for 10 days.
Behanan is a prominent member among the second-generation leaders from the Congress who succeed the likes of A K Antony and Vayalar Ravi. He became the state president of the Kerala Students Union (KSU) in 1978 and successfully contested assembly elections from Piravom in 1982 and Thrikkakara in 2011. He was also the president of Thrissur District Congress Committee for many years.
Chalakudy has been a strong UDF bastion during the five decades when the constituency was known as Mukundapuram. Those who defeated Congress's candidates here were ‘surprise guests' such as Lonappan Nambadan and Innocent.
The Congress-led UDF has won 12 out of the 16 elections so far from the seat and its erstwhile avatar.
