Seat-hopefuls besiege Murali

Thiruvananthapuram: The KPCC leaders will hold talks with party president Rahul Gandhi, who will visit Wayanad on Friday and Saturday, on the forthcoming by-elections to six Assembly seats in the state and issues related to party revamping.

Four Assembly seats have fallen vacant with K. Muraleedharan (Vattiyoorkavu), Adoor Prakash (Konni), A.M. Ariff (Aroor) and Hibi Eden (Ernakulam) getting elected to the 17th Lok Sabha. By-elections will also have to be held in Manjeswaram in Kasaragod district following the death of sitting legislator P.B. Abdul Razak (IUML) and K.M. Mani (KC-M) in Pala, Kottayam district.

The Congress aspirants have been knocking at the door of K. Muraleedharan, Vatakara MP-elect, as he will have a say in the candidate selection for Vattiyoorkavu.  Muraleedharan and Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala favour former Guruvayur Devaswom Board president N. Peethambara Kurup, it is learnt.

Former BJP state president Kummanam Rajasekharan who had contested against Muraleedharan in Vattiyoorkavu in 2016 had filed a case against him before the High Court for not furnishing the details of his assets. Muraleedharan secured a stay from the Supreme Court.

"The BJP is expected to withdraw the poll- related cases in Vattiyoorkavu and Manjeswaram in the coming days. Meanwhile, an understanding has been reached between Muraleedharan and Chennithala to field Peethambara Kurup from Vattiyoorkavu.A final decision will be taken after discussions in the party forum," said a source close to Muraleedharan.

Other hopefuls  include former Travancore Devaswom Board president Prayar Gopalakrishnan,  AICC secretary P. C. Vishnunath, former Thiruvananthapuram North MLA K. Mohan Kumar, a member of the State Human Rights Commission, and former Youth Commission member R. V. Rajesh. Another aspirant is Jyothi Vijayakumar, who effectively translated the speeches of Rahul Gandhi in Wayanad.

Rahul Gandhi will arrive in Kozhikode on Friday and attend a programme in Malappuram. Later,  he will visit Wayanad  to thank the voters for electing him. The KPCC leaders will meet Rahul Gandhi, AICC organising secretary K. C. Venugopal and general secretary Mukul Wasnik to hold preliminary talks on the by-elections and party revamping.