Kalpetta: The CPM will launch an all-out war to capture Wayanad if Congress president Rahul Gandhi lands there as a candidate.
The CPM leadership wants to defeat him by unleashing a vigorous campaign. The cadres have started covering the entire constituency marking roads, pitching cutouts, convening conventions and so on. Facebook and WhatsApp groups have also become active on cyberspace.
The focus would be on the anti-farmer policies of the former Congress government which introduced liberalisation. The CPM has already deputed a host of its leaders to Wayanad, including those from All-India Kissan Sabha like P. Krishnaprasad and Vijoo Krishnan, architects of the farmers’ agitations in North India recently. Former Sulthan Bathery MLA, P. Krishnaprasad, a native of Wayanad, has started activating the cadres.
Krishnaprasad told DC that the people of Wayanad will not support Rahul as the farmers were harassed during the Congress rule at the centre. “Many farmers ended their lives then, ” he said. Wayanad is not a UDF bastion, he said and added that four of the seven legislative constituencies have been won by LDF.
The Congress has dismissed the threat posed by the CPM. T. Siddique, who was named the UDF candidate earlier, has taken over the reins of the campaign.
He told reporters here on Sunday that the party expected Rahul Gandhi to pitch his tent here. Referring to the victory of LDF in four seats in the state legislature, Wayanad DCC president I.C. Balakrishnan told DC that it was the result of other factors. “When we are united, no force can defeat us in this constituency,” he added.
