Right from the time elections were announced in Kerala, the Kollam constituency had made it to the limelight with the presence of actor Mukesh in the electoral fray as the LDF candidate. The fight has become all the more interesting as we now have a ‘Guru-shishya’ contest on the cards in the polls to be held on May 16.
NDA candidate and former principal of Kollam SN college, Sasikumar is in the running competing along side his former students Mukesh and UDF candidate Sooraj Ravi.
Sasikumar was a lecturer when Mukesh was pursuing his graduation in the early 80s. He was the principal when Sooraj was an under-graduate student there from 2000 to 2002.
In a press meet on Tuesday in Kollam when Sasikumar was asked which of his students he supported, he had this to say: “I wish both of them victory, but right now I prefer to win myself.”
Sooraj on the other hand confessed to not being as broad-minded as his teacher and looked forward to winning in Kollam. Speaking to The News Minute, Sooraj talked of Sasikumar as a calm and quiet person with neutral political views. “He was a good teacher,” Sooraj recalled.
Sooraj also revealed that Mukesh and he were family friends and shared a cordial relation even outside the ambit of politics, “That has not changed even now,” he grins.
Though Mukesh did not have an opportunity to attend Sasikumar’s classes while in college, Mukesh does remember his teacher with a lot of affection. “I have interacted with him otherwise. He being the chairman of the SN Public School in Kollam, we have met on quite a few occasions,” he shared.
When asked whether the bonhomie with his rivals would affect his winning prospects, Mukesh chuckles: “Have you seen the elimination rounds of Idea Star Singer on Asianet channel where the ones who get through to the next round plead with the judges that their friends who were eliminated be given another chance…same will be the case here…after I’m elected, I’ll definitely ask the people of Kollam to give the other two also a chance to serve the people…may be, we three could then work together for the good of our constituency.”
News, views and interviews- Follow our election coverage.
Click TN Election Special
Click Kerala Election Special