Leader of the Opposition VD Satheesan said that the reasons behind Muraleedharan's defeat would be examined.
The fight broke out after a group of workers blamed the other for K Muraleedharan's defeat in the Lok Sabha election. (Supplied)
The Congress on Thursday, 6 June, reached out to senior Congress leader K Muraleedharan who decided to withdraw from public life after losing the Lok Sabha election in Thrissur.
KPCC chief Sudhakaran met with Muraleedharan at his residence in Kozhikode following the turmoil within the Congress in Thrissur, where a faction accused the district leadership and former MP TN Prathapan of undermining Muraleedharan’s chances of winning the key seat.
Earlier speaking to reporters in Kannur, Sudhakaran, who comfortably retained the Kannur Lok Sabha seat in the 26 April polls, suggested that the party was even prepared to field Muraleedharan in the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat if Rahul Gandhi vacated it for Rae Bareli.
“There is no obstacle for Muraleedharan to contest in Wayanad. The party should make the decision. He is qualified to compete anywhere,” Sudhakaran stated, noting that this would depend on Rahul Gandhi’s decision regarding the seats he has won.
When asked if he was willing to hand over the KPCC president post to Muraleedharan, Sudhakaran said, “Muraleedharan is suitable for any position. If necessary, the KPCC president role will also be offered to him. There is no disagreement about that.” He recalled that Muraleedharan had a previous tenure as KPCC chief.
‘The reason behind defeat would be examined’
Leader of the Opposition VD Satheesan said that the reasons behind Muraleedharan’s defeat would be examined.
All senior Congress leaders have spoken to Muraleedharan. However, he criticised a section of the media for attempting to tarnish the Congress-led UDF’s resounding victory in 18 out of 20 seats by focusing on the defeat in one seat, alleging that “there is an organised agenda behind it.”
“I will not fall into that trap,” he said.
Muraleedharan, who was shocked by his “unexpected” drubbing in the Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency, on Tuesday announced that he won’t contest elections anymore and would stay away from public life for some time.
Hours after the Election Commission announced the victory of BJP candidate Suresh Gopi in Thrissur constituency, Muraleedharan said he would have won if he contested from the Vadakara segment this time as well.
Muraleedharan, a multiple-term MLA and MP and son of former chief minister late K Karunakaran, had to shift to the Thrissur segment from Vadakara at the last minute as per the direction of the party leadership, with the objective of thwarting the chances of the saffron party here.
The senior leader settled in the third position with 3,28,124 votes in the polls.
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