It is now final. Vadakara constituency is all set to witness a high profile battle between K Muraleedharan of the Congress and P Jayarajan of the CPI(M). It took days for the Congress to choose its candidate for Vadakara as the party wanted a prominent leader to take on P Jayarajan.
K Muraleedharan is the sitting MLA from the Vattiyoorkav constituency in Thiruvananthapuram. The party High Command had to opt for Muraleedharan as KPCC President and sitting MP of Vadakara Mullappally Ramachandran did not want to contest.
The feud between the A and I factions of the Congress delayed the candidate announcement in four seats- Wayanad, Alappuzha, Vadakara and Attingal. Among this, the consensus on all three seats except Vadakara had been reached on Monday night.
Muarlaeedharan, however, is a surprise choice for Vadakara, though his name had been doing the rounds for Wayanad. Muraleedharan is the son of late Congress stalwart and former Chief Minister K Karunakaran. He is also former President of the KPCC, former minister and three-time MP from Kozhikode (1989, 1991 and 1999). Though K Karunanakran was leading the I group once, Muraleedharan is not part of any faction now and his capability as a leader is well accepted.
Having been an MP from Kozhikode, he is familiar with the politics of north Kerala.
“The fight in Vadakara will be against political violence, I am ready to accept any responsibility the party entrusts on me,” he told reporters.
The Congress has also announced that T Siddique will contest from Wayanad, Shanimol Usman from Alappuzha and sitting MLA of Konni Adoor Prakash from Attingal. With this the Congress candidate selection has concluded.