Kottayam: Congress leader V D Satheesan on Saturday urged the CPM workers of Puthuppally assembly constituency to vote for his party’s candidate Chandy Oommen in the September 5 bypoll.
Satheesan, the leader of the opposition in Kerala assembly, made the strange call while addressing an election rally organised by the United Democratic Youth Front (UDYF), the youth wing of the Congress-led opposition alliance, in Puthuppally.
Sounding a word of caution for the followers of the ruling party, Satheesan said: “If Chandy Oommen doesn’t win by a huge margin in the bypoll, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s arrogance will just peak. It will lead to the end of the CPM in Kerala just like what happened in West Bengal. So, I urge all the real communists of Puthuppally to vote for Chandy if they want their party to survive.”
Satheesan reiterated that the chief minister was keeping mum on the six allegations raised against him including the illegal payment row involving his daughter Veena Vijayan. “The Congress and the UDF are in a fight to make the chief minister answer our questions,” he said.
He also targetted the CPM state secretary M V Govindan saying the Kannur leader was getting no respect in the party. “The CPM during the initial stage of the campaign kept making defamatory remarks against Oommen Chandy’s family. Then the party secretary said they would not do it anymore. But still the party leaders continue to do so. I wonder if the secretary’s words have any value in the party,” he said.
Satheesan, once again, tried to belittle the Left front’s call for a debate on the development status of Puthuppally. He reiterated that the government which was relying on an almost empty coffer was challenging the UDF for a debate on development.
“Treasury cannot pass any bill higher than Rs 5 lakh. With Rs 5 lakh, you cannot even build a drainage. The government in such a stage is making all the claims about development,” he ridiculed the ruling front.
Claiming that there is a strong anti-incumbency wave against the Pinarayi-led Left rule across the state, Satheesan said everyone in Kerala is waiting to vote the government out.
Youth Congress state president Shafi Parambil, Benny Behanan MP, Congress leaders K C Joseph and leaders of youth outfits of the UDF allies attended the meet.
Candidate Chandy Oommen also attended the meet held on the 40th remembrance day of his father Oommen Chandy. Ahead of the meet, a rally was taken out from the premises of St George Church, where Oommen Chandy was buried, to Puthuppally junction.
