Thrissur: Party supporters came to blows at the District Congress Committee office in Thrissur over their star candidate K Muraleedharan's ignominious defeat in the Lok Sabha elections.
The Congress candidate was relegated to third position behind CPI's V S Sunil Kumar as BJP's Suresh Gopi won by a majority of 74,686, giving NDA its first Lok Sabha seat in Kerala.
Muraleedharan, son of former chief minister K Karunakaran, had been ushered away from his bastion in Vadakara to contest from Thrissur, replacing sitting MP T N Prathapan.
Tension was brewing in the Thrissur DCC since the results came on June 4 and anonymous posters popped up blaming Prathapan and DCC President Jose Valloor for the defeat. One of the posters read: “No seat for Prathapan even in a ward.”
On Friday, the situation escalated when Valloor confronted party worker Suresh on the issue of posters. Youth Congress workers allegedly assaulted Suresh and office secretary Sajeevan Kuriyachira, who intervened. Sajeevan, a close associate of Muraleedharan staged a sit-in in front of a framed picture of Karunakaran.
Later in the evening, Youth Congress State Secretary Abimon Thomas, former KSU district office bearer Nikhil John, and other activists clashed with a group led by Youth Congress General Secretary C Pramod and KSU State Secretary CV Vimal at the DCC office. Senior leaders intervened to separate the groups and defuse the tension.
Meanwhile, Kuriyachira continued his protest while police guarded the office. Valloor declined to address the media after the incident. The Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) has also initiated an inquiry into the matter.
