Warned Muraleedharan against contesting in Thrissur, claims Padmaja

Thrissur: BJP leader Padmaja Venugopal, the daughter of the later chief minister K Karunakaran, claimed that she had warned her brother and Congress leader K Muraleedharan against contesting from Thrissur. 

Padmaja, who switched to the BJP days ahead of the election, expressed happiness over her party's candidate Suresh Gopi's victory in Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency. Addressing the media here, she said that the voters of Thrissur accepted the actor-politician as their leader. While Gopi opened the BJP account in Kerala with a massive lead, Muraleedharan slipped to third position.

“Voters in Thrissur are not fools. People accepted a humanitarian like Suresh Gopi here. BJP candidates have secured 25 per cent of votes in constituencies like Thiruvananthapuram and Attingal. People of Kerala won't reject politicians with good intentions,” she said.

Talking about Muraleedharan's defeat, she said that she had warned him against contesting from Thrissur. “Congress has a good hold on certain communities in Thrissur. But still, Muraleedharan lost. You all know the reason behind it. Congress is continuing to play hate politics,” she alleged.

“I won't blame all Congress workers. Today, I have noticed a few posters questioning the leadership over the poll debacle. But the party is controlled by a caucus in Thrissur. The party won't survive if this caucus continues to exist. When the vote per cent of LDF and UDF decreased, BJP's vote share increased. More lotuses will bloom in Kerala in future,” she added.

Analysing the poll results, she argued that her decision to join the BJP was proven right. Padmaja's entry into BJP was a shocker for all as she is the daughter of former Kerala Chief Minister K Karunakaran.