Unhappy, but willing to fight for a Congress victory, are Kumari CPM cadre
CPM cadres were devastated when the Congress revealed their candidates for the Vilavancode and Kanniyakumari Lok Sabha by-election seats, but they quickly got back to work to make sure the grand old party won both seats. In an effort to raise spirits among the employees at Kuzhithurai, CPM State Secretary K Balakrishnan also paid them a visit on Saturday.
Following the defection of former Congress MLA S Vijayadharini to the BJP last month, the Vilavancode seat was declared vacant. Vilavancode, a CPM and Congress stronghold, is located in the western portion of the Kanniyakumari district, bordering Kerala. The CPM’s district cadres and the party’s high headquarters had asked the DMK-Congress coalition, of which it is a member, to give the CPM the seat in the Vilavancode by-election. However, the Congress ultimately received the seat and chose Dr. Tharahai Cuthbert as their candidate.
The cadres of the CPM were devastated by this. On Saturday, Balakrishnan paid them a visit in an effort to encourage party members to support Cuthbert and Vijay Vasanth, the Congress candidate running for Kanniyakumari Lok Sabha. Balakrishnan informed TNIE that after alliance discussions, Congress received Vilavancode, despite our requests for it to be assigned to us.
“Our cadres have started preparing for the election in Vilavancode as well as Kanniyakumari constituencies to ensure the victory of Congress’ candidates,” Balakrishnan said, “since our sole aim is to defeat the BJP.” According to CPM District Secretary R Chellaswami, party cadres were getting back to their regular routines.
