Pathanapuram ready for star war

KOLLAM: A hero, a comedian, and a villain will ensure a star war at Pathanapuram here and in the climax, the real hero will emerge without a retake.
This is where K.B. Ganesh Kumar, Jagadish and Bheeman Raghu are in the fray. All are Association of Malayalam Movie Actors (AMMA) members, but they represent three distinct political parties.

The LDF finds the ‘strongest candidate’ in Kumar, 49, of Kerala Congress (B), as he had won the seat thrice in a row for the UDF. The Congress party, which struggled hard to find a right opponent, zeroed in on Jagadish, 60, and the BJP has brought in the villain to trounce the two.

Kumar wrested the seat in 2001 from the LDF defeating sitting legislator K. Prakash Babu. CPM did not think twice before backing him. Last time, he had defeated its candidate K. Rajagopal and CPI’s K.R. Chandramohan in 2006.

Jagadish, a former university teacher, and ex-cop Raghu, 62, will have to sweat it out to outshine the reigning star of Pathanapuram. Jagadish, who attended a series of public functions in the constituency since his name popped up, has taken his experience in participating in election campaigns of the UDF in confidence to take the plunge.

He also finds himself as a campus politician during his college days. (He is a postgraduate in commerce and a rank holder). Raghu started his election campaign by visiting an old age home and inaugurating a function there. He got a warm welcome from the BJP workers.

He also visited Pookkunnimala drinking water project area. Finding himself as a candidate who has taken the seriousness of politics in the right sense, he said the fight would be a tough.