Thiruvananthapuram:Just a day before the deadline for submitting a nomination in the Kerala assembly poll ends, C Raghunath filed his nomination as Congress candidate to contest in Dharmadam against CPI (M) strongman and Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.The suspense at Dharmadam has come to a close with the development. K Sudhakaran earlier said that he recommended Congress local leader C Raghunath’s name to the seat.
Even though K Sudhakaran was named as a candidate by the party leadership earlier, he declined the opportunity. He had announced in a press meet that he is not willing to be a candidate. He said, he has sought the leadership to avoid him as there is not enough time to prepare for candidature. If he becomes a candidate at Dharmadam, he would not be able to focus on other constituencies in the Kannur district and reach other parts of the State for campaigns, he said.
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If it was planned earlier, it could have been done and an overturning victory could have been realised. However, at this stage, I am not in a position to contest, Sudhakaran said. He also clarified that he is not disregarding the leadership’s decision, and expressed his gratitude for considering him to the seat. There is no room for any more suspense, hereafter. However, Congress is in a quandary that there is no ‘strong candidate’ in Dharmadom.
Walayar girls' mother had also expressed her willingness to contest against the Chief Minister in Dharmadom. Support lopsided to her subsequently. However, as this was strongly disapproved by the Congress local leadership, the plan was dropped.
Initial talks were to field Forward Block national general secretary G Devarajan against Pinarayi Vijayan and gain national attention. However, as Devarajan denied, the Congress leadership’s plan fell flat.