The left has seen few colorful victories in
Thiruvananthapuram Loksabha constituency even though it has been won by
Congress 50% of the time since 1951*. The most colorful victory for the
Communists happened when the former CM of Kerala and CPI leader Shri.
P.K.Vasudevan Nair won in 2004 in a fierce triangular contest. In the same
election we saw BJP emerging as an important force in Thiruvananthapuram. Ten
years later there is a lull in the left camp. Bennet Abraham, their candidate has
been alleged of grabbing the seat by directly paying to A.B. Bardhan in Delhi.
He doesn't look like a traditional
left candidate says the CPM local committee member Marappalam Vijaya Kumar in
Pattom. Vijaya Kumar has been working as a foot soldier for the party for the
last 40 years and claims that he has selflessly served the party without
expecting any rewards. " I get goose bumps when I see the red flag with
sickle hammer and star fluttering", his eyes filled up when he said that. Never ever before he has been dissolute the
way he is today. I asked him whom would he vote in the current scenario. He
gave a wry smile and said ," I wouldn't waste my vote on NOTA. I would
vote for the most honest candidate this time". That says it all. I watched
Vijaya Kumar walking away from me in a waddling gait smoking his favourite
filter less Cigarette. A puff of smoke
released from his nostrils dissolved into the thick air and that reminded me of
his party's pathetic situation now.
*Thiruvananthapuram was a Loksabha constituency
of Travancore-Cochin in 1951.
No comments:
Post a Comment