The Hindu (Kozhikode)

Battles lines drawn in Thrissur: Muraleedha­ran takes out massive roadshow

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K. Muraleedha­ran, the Congress candidate in the Thrissur Lok Sabha constituen­cy for the upcoming elections, was accorded a warm reception here by the party activists and workers on Saturday.

Sitting Thrissur MP T.N. Prathapan, District Congress Committee (DCC) president Jose Vallur and the United Democratic Front (UDF) district chairman M.P. Vincent received the leader at the Thrissur railway station.

Mr. Muraleedha­ran took out a roadshow from the Thrissur railway station to the DCC office. Party workers and a percussion ensemble followed him.

Later, he reached K. Karunakara­n’s house and paid floral tributes at his parents’ memorial.

Mr. Muraleedha­ran’s surprise entry in Thrissur has seemed to uplift the spirit of the Congress workers. The city sported hundreds of posters of Mr. Mu

The roadshow taken out by K. Muraleedha­ran, the Congress candidate in the Thrissur constituen­cy for the upcoming Lok Sabha election, in Thrissur on Saturday.

raleedhara­n in a single day after his candidatur­e from here was announced.

No reply to Padmaja

Addressing mediaperso­ns here during his roadshow, Mr. Muraleedha­ran said he will not reply to the remarks made by Padmaja Venugopal, now a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), anymore.

“Thrissur is the bastion of Karunakara­n. Here, there is no place for religious fundamenta­lism. Karunakara­n’s children used to uphold his values. Now

a change has occurred. I am not going to respond to any of her remarks,” he said.

Hinting at the role of Loknath Behra, former Director General of Police, behind Ms. Venugopal’s migration to the BJP, he said Mr. Behra’s job is to ‘build bridges’.

“First, he built bridges between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. Now he is building bridges for others to enter the BJP. But no bridge will last long,” he said.

 ?? K.K. NAJEEB ??
K.K. NAJEEB

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