Alappuzha: Almost all the billboards set up by the Congress across the Alappuzha constituency read Hridayathil KC (KC in the heart). Some have pictures of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi hugging K.C. Venugopal, the United Democratic Front (UDF) candidate for the Lok Sabha seat, back when he was in Kerala during the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
Many residents that ThePrint spoke to also referred to the senior leader as just “KC”.
“KC is a good human being,” says a resident of Haripad in Alappuzha district. He adds that Venugopal has the best chance of victory, even though there are no complaints against the incumbent MP, the Left Democratic Front’s (LDF) A.M. Ariff.
The district’s Congress leadership, too, is hoping that the popularity factor will work in his favour.
“There is no need to introduce him when we go for the door-to-door campaign. We just say KC and that is enough,” says UDF block general secretary Rajesh Kumar.
District Congress Committee vice president Tijin Joseph says, “Venugopal knows more people than I do in Alappuzha. The constituency has over 140 booths, and he knows the majority of the party workers by their name.”
The Congress is celebrating Venugopal’s candidature as the leader’s homecoming. Born in Kannur, he was first elected to the Kerala Legislative Assembly from Alappuzha in 1996. He represented the assembly constituency consecutively till 2006. In the 2009 and 2014 general elections, Venugopal was elected from the corresponding Lok Sabha constituency. In 2020, he was elected as a Rajya Sabha MP from Rajasthan.
A member of the coordination committee of the INDIA bloc, his candidacy also assumes significance as Alappuzha was the only seat that the LDF, also a member of the alliance, won in 2019. Senior LDF leaders, including Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, have criticised the Congress for fielding the national leader against its ally.
However, the Congress is haunted by the defections from the party to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
“Venugopal has a good image; people like his character. But many Congress leaders are quitting the party, including children of state leaders and former chief ministers (referring to Padmaja Venugopal and Anil Antony),” says Aslam, an autorickshaw driver in Alappuzha North. He adds that LDF members are more committed.
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Ties with the Gandhi family
The general secretary of the AICC and one of the Congress’s national leaders, Venugopal is one of the closest confidants of the Gandhi family. In the constituency, his party is using everything from his image as a national leader to his purported ability to defend against the BJP.
In Alappuzha, he is contesting against sitting LDF MP Ariff and a former state chief of the BJP Mahila Morcha, Sobha Surendran. In 2019, Ariff won 4,45,981 votes against the Congress candidate, Shanimol Usman (4,35,496), while the BJP secured 1,87,729 votes. Of the seven assembly segments in the constituency, five are represented by the LDF (Aroor, Cherthala, Alappuzha, Ambalappuzha, and Kayamkulam), and two by the UDF (Haripad and Karunagappally).
“He is the closest confidant of the Gandhis. That will have a huge influence in Alappuzha,” says Joseph, adding that this will also help the party win a majority.
The local party leadership also says that Venugopal’s victory and subsequent election to the Lok Sabha will play an instrumental role in safeguarding the democratic and secular values of Kerala. The party says that all developmental projects in the area, including the Alappuzha bypass, have been undertaken due to the Congress’ initiatives, besides the district becoming a tourism hub.
“Recently, the prime minister slammed Tejashwi Yadav for eating fish. This is a coastal belt. People are worried that their livelihood will be lost if the BJP comes to power again,” Joseph says.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist), however, says the Congress is trying to project Venugopal as a national leader.
“The Congress is using the national image of Venugopal to wrest votes. But the people need an MP in the constituency. What happens after he goes to Delhi after the elections?” says T.K. Devakumar, former Haripad MLA and secretary of the CPI(M)’s Alappuzha unit.
All constituencies in Kerala will go to the polls in the second phase of voting Friday.
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Ariff’s work will speak for him, hopes CPI(M)
The CPI(M) is countering the Congress’ campaign for Venugopal with sitting MP Ariff’s performance in the past five years. Several voters in the constituency told ThePrint that they were happy with his work.
LDF leaders have also claimed that Ariff was the only Kerala MP to speak in the Parliament against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA). According to PRS Legislative Research, Ariff has 89 percent attendance in the Parliament against the national average of 79 per cent. He has attended 113 debates, asked 244 questions and introduced one Private Member’s Bill.
“The LDF’s votes will not go anywhere as Ariff is accepted by everyone within and outside the party,” says Devakumar. He adds that the public doesn’t have any complaints with the CPI(M) candidate.
He believes that the people can’t support the Congress, citing its “inability” to decide its candidate in Amethi in Uttar Pradesh.
Meanwhile, the BJP’s campaign is based on promises of a woman Union minister from Alappuzha if its candidate, Sobha Surendran, is voted to power.
To counter the UDF’s focus on Venugopal as a national leader, the LDF has come up with a slogan, ‘arikilund Ariff (Ariff is nearby)’, which it claims even the Congress leadership agrees with.
The party has also said that the sitting MP was a key figure behind the completion of the Alappuzha bypass project, which had begun in the 1980s. The 6.8-km two-lane bypass links Kalarcode and Kommady in the district.
A joint venture of the state and central governments, the project was inaugurated in January 2021 by Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari and Chief Minister Vijayan. The inauguration ceremony organised by the Union ministry had ignited a row after the list of invitees did not include the constituency’s sitting MP Ariff or former MP Venugopal.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
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