Cong. rejig in the face of BJP move in Alappuzha, Thrissur

Padmaja Venugopal’s campaign for BJP’s Suresh Gopi in the cultural capital of the State will arouse curiosity, particularly in light of her brother K. Muraleedharan’s candidature

The candidature of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) State vicepresident Shobha Surendran in Alappuzha and the defection of Congress leader Padmaja Venugopal to the BJP seem to have compelled the Congress leadership to rejig its nominees for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in Kerala.

To wrest the Alappuzha seat lost to Communist Party of India (Marxist)’s A.M. Ariff in the previous election, the Congress has fielded All India Congress Committee general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal, who had won from the constituency in 2014.

Muslim face

The party has also replaced incumbent MP T.N. Prathapan from Thrissur with Vadakara MP K. Muraleedharan to take on BJP candidate and actorpolitician Suresh Gopi. In the process, the Congress sought a Muslim candidate for the polls, culminating in the nomination of Shafi Parambil, Palakkad MLA, in Vadakara.

Now the electoral situation, Congress leaders say, has become more favourable for the party even though both these constituencies — Alappuzha and Thrissur — are going to witness a threecornered contest.

Nevertheless, these constituencies, like many other seats elsewhere, have undergone multiple changes and shift in demographics that impact the electoral calculus of the opposing fronts in the wake of the BJP’s ascendency at the Centre.

Already designated as a star campaigner by the BJP, Ms. Venugopal’s involvement in Mr. Gopi’s political battle will also arouse curiosity in Thrissur, particularly in light of her brother’s, Mr. Muraleedharan, candidature in Thrissur.

As the daughter of the late Chief Minister K. Karunakaran, Ms. Venugopal’s entry might evoke memories of her father’s political legacy and could arguably resonate with some sections of the electorate.

Ms. Venugopal’s electoral ambitions had gone awry both in the Assembly and Lok Sabha polls when she was in the Congress.

Baggage of losses

She had unsuccessfully contested from Thrissur in the 2016 and 2021 Assembly polls and from the erstwhile Mukundapuram Lok Sabha constituency in 2004.

Similarly, Congress calculates that Mr. Muraleedharan will also benefit from Mr. Karunakaran’s political legacy, despite being a leader in his own right.

Campaign mode: Congress activists removing flex boards seeking votes for K. Muraleedharan at Perambra in the Vadakara Lok Sabha constituency on Saturday.