A poster allegedly circulated by a Janata Dal (Secular) candidate in Karnataka has led to a political slugfest in Kerala as it features two leaders from the Left Democratic Front (LDF). The purported poster of National Democratic Front (NDA) candidate CN Manjunath features Kerala’s Electricity Minister K Krishnankutty and Tiruvalla MLA Mathew T Thomas, both leaders from the Janata Dal (Secular) in Kerala, where it is an ally of the LDF.
While Electricity Minister K Krishnankutty dismissed the poster as fake, opposition leader and Congress leader VD Satheesan told the media that a JD(S) youth leader from Karnataka had confirmed that the poster was used for campaigning on social media.
Krishnankutty said he would file a complaint with the Director General of Police (DGP) against the misuse of his photo on the poster. Speaking to Mathrubhumi News, his secretary showed a similar poster without the pictures of Krishnankutty and Mathew T Thomas and said the original poster was altered to include the faces of the two leaders.
Mathew T Thomas said that the JD(S) in Kerala wasn’t a part of the NDA and that the poster was being circulated by their political opponents. He pointed out that the images of the two leaders would not help the BJP candidate secure votes in Karnataka. The JD(S) is standing firmly with the LDF in Kerala, he added.
Communist Party of India (CPI) leader and Rajya Sabha MP Binoy Viswom said Krishnankutty and Mathew T Thomas had opposed JD(S) chief HD Deva Gowda’s decision to join the NDA alliance, and that they remain committed to the LDF.
Manjunath, a candidate from the Bengaluru rural constituency, is the son-in-law of former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, who is the national president of JD(S). JD(S) has been in an alliance with the BJP in Karnataka since September 2013, but the Kerala unit of the party remained with the LDF.