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Kerala Politics

Metroman Sreedharan faces tough battle in Palakkad

E sreedharan

The technocrat may garner a few BJP votes, but does not seem to be a winning candidate, reports Ashok parameswar

As the state gears up for polling on April 6, emotions and aspirations remain high. Despite the beating heat, voters in Palakkad are all set to usher in more development to the district. Voters across the constituencies look forward to a complete facelift of the district that has long been to be on a par with other districts of the state.

There are 12 constituencies in Palakkad district, Palakkad, Chittur, Nenmara, Tarur, Mannarkkad, Malampuzha, Alathur, Thrithala, Ottapalam, Pattambi, Kongad,and Shoranur with 73 candidates. According to Palakkad constituency, it was alternately represented by the UDF and the LDF since 1957.

Sitting MLA Shafi Parambil of the UDF who defeated BJP’s Sobha Surendran by 17,483 votes in 2016, is fully confident of representing the constituency for a third term in the legislative assembly and his rival LDF’s Pramod promises to keep up the government’s policies.

Though technocrat E Sreedharan has drawn national attention with his candidature, his political line may not necessarily translate to a win. He may garner a few BJP votes, but does not seem to be a winning candidate. Another determining factor is how the Palakkad municipality, which is being headed by the BJP since 2015 will exercise its vote.

Palakkad stands out as the urban areas align itself to the BJP and beyond it, there’s an unflinching affiliation to the Leftist ideology.

Also read:Ernakulam a key constituency for parties

The UDF might find a challenge in the vote share since the candidature of E Sreedharan might draw up the BJPs vote share a few notches. The UDF might find a challenge in the vote share since the candidature of E Sreedharan might draw up the BJPs vote share by a few margins.

Shafi Parambil

Chittur constituency which shares a border with Tamil Nadu is another seat that is likely to witness a tight contest LDF and UDF. K Krishnan Kutty who was a UDF ally in earlier polls, but won 2016 assembly election in the LDF banner. Tamil votes will be a crucial factor in the upcoming polls because of its lion’s share in Chittur.  

According to recent surveys, the UDF camp is likely to win 7 out of the 12 seats in Palakkad district while LDF would be able to bag 5 seats only. UDF’s V T Balram’s tight fight with LDF’s MB Rajesh would be another factor that grabs the attention of Kerala electoral politics. The promise of the prosperous state as put forward by the present government is yet to receive complete realisation in the district. This will decide its fate.

Also read:UDF eyes Malappuram to win Kerala

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Kerala Politics

UDF eyes Malappuram to win Kerala

UDF

Malappuram likely to be a sweep for UDF, which is depending on IUML to sweep 16 seats, reports Ashok Parameswar

Surprises seem unlikely in Kerala’s Malappuram district this election. The 16 constituencies — the highest number in any district — has been a stronghold of the United Democratic Front (UDF). In the 2016 assembly elections, the Left Democratic Front (LDF) won just four seats here. The remaining seats were wrested by Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), a key constituent of the UDF. The district which has a 70% Muslim population is the bed rock of IUML’s support base in Kerala.

Adding more head to the campaigning, the district is also witnessing a Lok Sabha bypoll. While the LDF has fielded Student’s Federation of India (SFI) national president VP Sanu to take on IUML’s PK Kunhalikutty and Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) AP Abdullakutty.

For the assembly polls, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is fielding 14 of its candidates and 2 from Bharath Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS). Meanwhile the CPI(M) has fielded five Independents candidates, of the nine the Left coalition is fielding across the state. CPI on the other hand has three candidates with Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Indian National League (INL) fielding one each.

Also read:BJP fields Metroman in Palakkad

The LDF, however, is looking to repeat its 2006 showing, when it swept all the seats in the segment. But the UDF is confident that it will not lose any of its strongholds. The Left’s calculations for defeating the UDF has gained momentum.

The fact that the UDF has put up strong candidates in Thavanur, Ponnani, Tanur and Nilambur constituencies also gives confidence in the formation’s supporters. The contest is stronger than that of the previous election of 2016. It is likely to be a fierce battle in Perinthalmanna and Mankada where the Left Front had lost by a slight margins last elections.

The fight in Thavanur between KT Jaleel and Feroz Kunnamparambil is one of the heated political battle that Kerala is looking forward to. The strongholds of the Muslim League in Malappuram, Kottakkal, Vallikunnu, Vengara and Ernad are unlikely to be shaken.

Malappuram is crucial for the UDF to gain power in Kerala. But unlike other elections, the Muslim League will have to put in sincere work to overcome the challenge posed by the LDF.

Also read:Ernakulam a key constituency for parties

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Kerala Politics

Left, Right and Centre battle it out in Thiruvananthapuram

With the rise of strong triangular competition in many constituencies, the outcome is unpredictable, reports Aravind Rajeev.

With hardly two weeks left, the electioneering is in full pace as ninety-nine candidates are in the fray for the 14 Assembly constituencies in Thiruvananthapuram district.

With the rise of strong triangular competition in many constituencies, the outcome is unpredictable with many candidates who secured victory now face stiff competition.

Two of the 14 assembly constituencies — Nemom and Kazhakoottam — turned to be the focal points in the election which is scheduled to be held on April 6.

Nemom, the lone sitting seat of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state, is one of the most-watched constituencies in Kerala with an unpredictable triangular contest.

BJP is going with former Mizoram governor and senior leader Kummanam Rajasekharan, who had contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Thiruvanathapuram.

In the 2016 Assembly polls, Nemom rode into national headlines, when the BJP opened its account in the Kerala Assembly when its star candidate — former Union Minister O. Rajagopal defeated CPI(M) leader V. Sivankutty and left the Congress-led UDF candidate, a former state Minister V. Surendran Pillai of the then Janata Dal (U), a poor third.

But now, winning will be not that easy for BJP since the Congress has fielded its all-time ‘failsafe’ – K. Muraleedharan, son of late leader K. Karunakaran and sitting Member of Parliament from Vatakara constituency.

Congress decision to field Mureleedharan came after a huge drama with names of opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala and former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy flooded the news channels, social media, and also in the official political speeches as proposed candidates.

The CPI(M) has put up V Sivankutty, who won from Nemom in 2011. However, it will be the most keenly fought triangular contest in the state.

The highest number of 11 candidates are contesting in the Nemom Assembly constituency followed by 10 candidates each in Thiruvananthapuram and Vamanapuram.

With the arrival of BJP leader Sobha Surendran as the candidate in Kazhakkuttam, the electoral predictions in the constituency have completely changed. A tough triangular contest is expected in the constituency, where, last time, the BJP finished in second place.

As expected, Surendran has played the BJP trump card — the controversy surrounding women’s entry in Sabarimala — to woo Hindu voters largely. She is pitted against the LDF’s Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran, who is now at the receiving end of criticisms related to Sabarimala.

Speaking to the media, Surendran said that the Sabarimala issue remained an emotive one and will have a major impact on the elections. However, Kadakampally is blocking this by highlighting the developments made in the constituency.

While on the other hand, Congress’ surprise pick of Dr S.S. Lal may change the polls results its course on UDF favour. Dr Lal is also the state president of All India Professional Congress.

Unlike the previous election, the sitting MLAs in the district, seem to have fears about the outcome of the results as the newcomers almost succeeded in the first place to create the impression that there is strong competition in many constituencies.

In the constituencies including Vamanapuram, Parassala, Kattakada, Neyyattinkara, Kovalam, Thiruvananthapuram, Aruvikkara, Chirayinkeezhu, Varkala and Vattiyoorkavu, the ground has been set for close battles.

Most of the new faces have close relationship with the constituencies they are contesting. UDF candidates Ansajitha Russell of Parassala, Anand Jayan from Vamanapuram, and Venugopal from Malayinkeezhu in Kattakada, were members of District Panchayats.

LDF candidate OS Ambika is the Block Panchayat President in Attingal and Janadhipathya Kerala Congress candidate for Thiruvananthapuram Antony Raju and Janata Dal (Secular) candidate for Kovalam A. Neelalohitadasan Nadar are former state legislators.

In Nedumangad, candidates PS Prashanth of the UDF and GR Anil of the Communist Party of India (CPI) have got personal connections in the constituency, which they try to turn into votes.

Same is the case in Neyyattinkara. Congress candidate R. Selvaraj is a former MLA from Neyyattinkara. LDF candidates G. Stephen of Aruvikara was CPI-M’s Area Secretary.

Increase of 50k voters

According to the latest voters list released by the Election Commission last week, the number of voters in the district has increased by more than 50,000.

The list, which was published on January 20 last year, had 27,69,272 voters. This year, the number has been increased to 28,19,710 with 50,438 additional voters.

Of these, 13,40,691 are male electors, 14,78,958 female electors and 61 are transgender voters. Transgender voters figure on the list in all constituencies except Varkala and Parassala. With 61 transgender voters, Thiruvananthapuram is also the district with the highest number of voters in this category.

The highest number of voters is in Parasala constituency – 2.19 lakh and the lowest is in the nearest constituency, Neyyattinkara – 1,86,705.

Also Read-Former CM Chandy in Congress’ Kerala list

Read More-957 candidates to contest in Kerala polls

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Kerala Politics

Ernakulam a key constituency for parties

Ernakulam district has 14 constituencies with including 2649340 voters. This consists of 1,29,5142 male voters and 1,35,4171 female voters and 27 transgender voters…writes Shelja Pallath.

Ernakulam constituency is a crucial district for every political party in Kerala and for the newly mushroomed “non-political” players.

These include 20-20, V for People’s Party among others. If the recently concluded civic polls are an indicator, both LDF and UDF face concerns with the rising vote share of these “non-political” parties. 

Ernakulam district has 14 constituencies with including 2649340 voters. This consists of 1,29,5142 male voters and 1,35,4171 female voters and 27 transgender voters.

According to some election surveys, UDF may win at least eight seats in the district and the rest may go to the CPI(M)-led LDF. Perumbavoor, Ankamali, Paravur and Aluva constituencies are predicted as a must win places for UDF.

LDF’s Aluva constituency candidate Shelna Nishad has been repeatedly rising unresolved issues the area faces under 10 years of Congress rule.  

Ernakulam is known as a UDF safe zone, but it has another history too. The last by poll is the best example for its uncertainty. The victories of M.K Sanu and Sebastian Paul are also notable points to remember even in the 2021 election. Pollution and waterlogging in the monsoon period are the same issues of Kochi Corporation for many years.

In most of these major constituencies the vote difference between the two parties is very low and the chances for unpredicted victories and failures are common in the district.

Thrippunithura is another major constituency at which the three main parties are fighting for. While M. Swaraj is the sitting candidate, UDF’S K.Babu is busy recapitulating his image which took a dent over alleged bribery. The NDA candidate Dr. K.S Radhakrishnan is also an important player.

LDF is highlighting its Rs 1000 Cr developmental initiatives including, LIFE mission and school renovation programs in Muvazttupuzha as the campaign pitch.

Similarly in the high rage area Kothamangalam, a strong fight is expected between the two major parties, which can be challenged by 20-20 and BJP to an extent.  

Also Read-957 candidates to contest in Kerala polls

Read More-Former CM Chandy in Congress’ Kerala list

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India News Kerala

957 candidates to contest in Kerala polls

One seat was won by P.C. George whose party does not belong to any political front…reports Asian Lite News.

At the end of the last date of withdrawal of nominations, Kerala now has a total of 957 candidates whose fate will be decided by 2,74,46,039 electorate on April 6 when the 140-member Assembly goes to the polls.

In Kerala, while the fight is between the traditional rival fronts — the present ruling CPI-M led Left Democratic Front and the Congress-led United Democratic Front, also in the running is the BJP -led National Democratic Alliance.

In the outgoing Assembly, the Left in 2016 had won 91 seats and secured 43.48 per cent while the UDF had 47 seats with 38.81 per cent votes while the BJP had just one seat and secured 14.96 per cent votes.

One seat was won by P.C. George whose party does not belong to any political front.

While the Left led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, is trying to create electoral history by becoming the first sitting government to retain office, the Congress-led UDF is trying to wrest power and the BJP’s priority is to retain the lone seat that they won last time, though they claim that they would better their performance this time.

Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan

While Vijayan expects the results of the local body polls, held in December 2020, will repeat itself when it managed to retain the edge that they had in the 2015 local body polls, the UDF is expecting a repeat of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls when it won 19 out of the 20 seats.

Also Read-Cong claims BJP-CPI-M unholy alliance in Kerala

Read More-Former CM Chandy in Congress’ Kerala list

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BJP fields Metroman in Palakkad

E sreedharan

Former Kerala BJP chief Kummanam Rajasekhran will contest from Nemom constituency…reports Asian Lite News

The BJP on Sunday announced names of 112 candidates for April 6 Kerala Assembly polls, including “Metroman” E. Sreedharan, from Palakkad while Kerala BJP chief K. Surendran will contest from two seats — Manjeshwar and Konni.

Former Kerala BJP chief Kummanam Rajasekhran will contest from Nemom constituency, former Union Minister and Rajya Sabha member K.J. Alphons from Kanjirappally, another Rajya Sabha member Suresh Gopi from Thrissur and former DGP Jacob Thomas from Irinjalakuda.

Manikuttan, the first tribal engineer in state, will contest from Mananthavady (ST) assembly seat, academician Dr. Abdul Salaam will contest from Tirur and party spokesperson R. Sandeep Vachaspathi from Alappuzha.

Ashanath (Chirayinkeezhu), Raji Prasad (Kunnathu), Minerva Mohan (Kottayam), Dr J. Pramila Devi (Pala), Remya Raveendran (Udumbanchola), Renu Suresh (Kunnathunad), Padmaja S. Menon (Ernakulam), Niveditha (Guruvayoor), Sheebha Unnikrishnan (Kondotty), Navya Haridas (Kozhikode South), Smitha Jayamohan (Peravoor) and Aniyamma Rajendran (Irikkur) are BJP women leaders who will contest the polls.



BJP national General Secretary, Arun Singh said that the BJP is contesting on 115 seats and the rest of 25 seats will be left for four alliance partners.

“Joining of Metroman Sreedharan has given a big boost to the BJP’s campaign. Celebrities, academician, IPS officers are joining BJP and contesting Assembly polls under leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” he said.

Meanwhile, in a surprise move, the name of M.P. Joseph, a former Kerala bureaucrat, has figured in the candidates list of the P.J. Joseph faction of the Kerala Congress (M), in the Congress-led UDF.



M.P. Joseph is the son-in-law of K.M. Mani, the founder of the Kerala Congress (M) but the faction led by Mani’s son Jose K. Mani, recently became an ally of the ruling CPI-M led Left.



M.P. Joseph is a former IAS official who took voluntary retirement a few years back and has been fielded from Trikaripur in Kannur district, which is billed as a stronghold of the Left.

Jose K. Mani is contesting his first Assembly election from Pala, the seat that his father held from 1967 to 2019, when he passed away, but in the bypoll, the candidate of Jose K. Mani lost to the Left candidate Mani C. Kappen of the NCP.

This time Kappen, after being denied his winning seat, has formed his own party and is an ally of the Congress-led UDF. He is pitted against Jose K. Mani, in the April 6 Assembly polls.

The P.J. Joseph faction has been given 10 seats by the Congress-led UDF, while Jose K. Mani was given 13 seats by the Left.

P.J. Joseph is contesting from his home turf Thodupuzha, which he won in the 2016 elections with the highest margin in the state of 45,587 votes.

Also read:BJP’s star studded list includes E. Sreedharan

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India News Kerala

Former CM Chandy in Congress’ Kerala list

The Congress, which heads the United Democratic Front, is contesting in 91 out of the state’s 140 constituencies…reports Asianlite news desk.

Ahead of the upcoming election in four states and one Union territory, Congress on Sunday released its first list of 86 candidates. For the April 6 Kerala Assembly polls with former Chief Minister Oomen Chandy fielded from his traditional Puthupally seat and Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala from Haripad.

Former Chief Minister K. Karunakaran’s daughter Padmaja Venugopal has been given ticket from Thrissur, V.S. Sivakumar has been fielded from Thiruvanthapuram and K. Muraleedharan from Nemom, the lone seat won by the BJP in the 2016 Assembly polls.

The Congress, which heads the United Democratic Front, is contesting in 91 out of the state’s 140 constituencies.

The IUML will be contesting on 27 seats, the Kerala Congress-Joseph has been allotted 10 seats, the RSP will field candidates in five seats, and the Nationalist Congress Party Kerala, led by Mani C. Kappen, which had recently severed ties with the NCP — a part of the CPI-M-led Left Democratic Front, and joined the UDF, will be given two seats, including Pala.

One seat each has been allocated to the Kerala Congress-Jacob, the Bharatiya National Janata Dal and Communist Marxist Party, led by C.P. John.

Also Read-Congress slams Budget as anti-farmer

Read More-Cong claims BJP-CPI-M unholy alliance in Kerala

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BJP’s star studded list includes E. Sreedharan

BJP national General Secretary, Arun Singh said that the BJP is contesting on 115 seats and the rest of 25 seats will be left for four alliance partners…reports Asianlite News.

Former engineer and the leader of top rail projects in India E. Sreedharan will contest in the upcoming assembly election. The BJP on Sunday announced names of 112 candidates for April 6 Kerala Assembly polls, including “Metroman” E. Sreedharan, from Palakkad while Kerala BJP chief K. Surendran will contest from two seats — Manjeshwar and Konni.

BJP workers .

Former Kerala BJP chief Kummanam Rajasekhran will contest from Nemom constituency, former Union Minister and Rajya Sabha member K.J. Alphons from Kanjirappally, another Rajya Sabha member Suresh Gopi from Thrissur and former DGP Jacob Thomas from Irinjalakuda.

Manikuttan, the first tribal engineer in state, will contest from Mananthavady (ST) assembly seat, academician Dr. Abdul Salaam will contest from Tirur and party spokesperson R. Sandeep Vachaspathi from Alappuzha.

Polling

Ashanath (Chirayinkeezhu), Raji Prasad (Kunnathu), Minerva Mohan (Kottayam), Dr J. Pramila Devi (Pala), Remya Raveendran (Udumbanchola), Renu Suresh (Kunnathunad), Padmaja S. Menon (Ernakulam), Niveditha (Guruvayoor), Sheebha Unnikrishnan (Kondotty), Navya Haridas (Kozhikode South), Smitha Jayamohan (Peravoor) and Aniyamma Rajendran (Irikkur) are BJP women leaders who will contest the polls.

BJP national General Secretary, Arun Singh said that the BJP is contesting on 115 seats and the rest of 25 seats will be left for four alliance partners.

“Joining of Metroman Sreedharan has given a big boost to the BJP’s campaign. Celebrities, academician, IPS officers are joining BJP and contesting Assembly polls under leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” he said.

Also Read-Cong claims BJP-CPI-M unholy alliance in Kerala

Read More-AIADMK gives 20 seats to BJP

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India News Kerala

Cong claims BJP-CPI-M unholy alliance in Kerala

The Congress in Kerala on Tuesday slammed the BJP and the ruling CPI-M, and said they were having an unholy alliance in which the main actors were none other than Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

Speaking to the media in Delhi, Kerala state Congress chief Mullapally Ramachandran said, “For this, they will resort to all sorts of overt and covert ways to reach their end objective of weakening the Congress party. You all should remember that not long ago, even before the Kannur airport was officially opened, Vijayan allowed the aircraft of Shah, who was then the BJP president to land. None should forget, the first electoral victory of Vijayan from Kannur was with the help of the then Jana Sangh,” said Ramachandran.

Shah was in the state capital on Sunday to attend a public rally of the Kerala state BJP and had asked a few questions for Vijayan to answer with regards to the gold smuggling and the reverse dollar hawala cases, that various central agencies are probing.

On Monday, instead of answering the questions, Vijayan posed his round of questions to Shah.

Leader of opposition in the Kerala state Assembly Ramesh Chennithala said, “Just look into the speed at which these two cases were being probed and when it reached a crucial juncture, things came to a grinding halt. This in itself proves that these two parties are hand in glove, as all know, if the probe goes in the proper way, it could become a problem for both,” said Chennithala.

Also read:PICS: Rahul’s Kerala visit

Two time former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said in the past two days what Kerala saw was questions being asked by Shah and Vijayan.

“Both these leaders were seen asking questions to each other. What Kerala wants is answers to these questions that were asked. Very soon all will come to know the real intent of these two parties,” said Chandy.

Kerala goes to elect 140 Legislators on April 6, and hitherto it was a direct electoral fight between the Congress-led UDF and the CPI-M led LDF .

But of late, the BJP-led NDA also has appeared in the political scenario of Kerala. In the 2016 Assembly polls, it managed to open its account by winning one seat and finished second in seven constituencies.

At the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, all what it managed was 15.64 per cent of the total votes polled, up from the 14.96 per cent which they managed in the 2016 Assembly polls.

Also read:Vijayan goes hammer and tongs at Shah

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Vijayan goes hammer and tongs at Shah

Vijayan was in full flow while inaugurating the April 6 assembly election campaign at his home turf in Kannur, when he went hammer and tongs at Shah….reports Asian Lite News

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has tore into Union Home Minister Amit Shah, stating that he was never jailed in any murder case but there is one person called Amit Shah who was jailed for it.

Two days ago, Shah while addressing a mammoth party meeting in the state capital, had asked a few questions to Vijayan about gold smuggling and the reverse dollar hawala case that has rocked the Vijayan government.

Vijayan was in full flow while inaugurating the April 6 assembly election campaign at his home turf in Kannur, when he went hammer and tongs at Shah.

“Yesterday he (Shah) had asked me a few questions. What I have to tell him is that I was never in jail for murder and such crimes, but there is one person who went to jail for it, his name is Amit Shah. He also spoke about a suspicious murder that took place, we want him to say which was that case and if said, we will conduct a proper probe. You need not create a smokescreen,” said Vijayan.

“In 2010, in the Sohrabuddin case which was a fake encounter case, who was charge-sheeted for that. Amit Shah might have forgotten but all know it was Amit Shah. Please do not teach us anything. The CBI judge Lodha died in mysterious circumstances and his family is still searching for justice,” added Vijayan, whose statements were greeted with huge applause.

Also read:Goa CM urges farmers to seek inspiration from Kerala

“Who was the person who created Acche Din for a person’s company whose assets grew to Rs 16,000 crores. Pinarayi Vijayan is not like that and the people know about it. Your culture is different from ours. Your ways will not work here as Kerala is different,” said Vijayan.

Vijayan told Shah that even though you are the Union Home Minister, you will get respect only if you give respect and don’t forget your status.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah



“Yesterday, he asked me a few questions, I wish to ask him a few questions. When the gold smuggling through the diplomatic baggage was first reported, a Sangh Parivar personality was involved, don’t you know that? The Customs which is under the control of the Centre is in full control of Thiruvananthapuram airport and ever since the BJP started ruling the Centre, this airport has become the hub of gold smuggling. Amit Shah has to answer this. Also a Union Minister of State has a role besides various Sangh Parivar people have been appointed in this airport. The central agencies began their probe well, but when it started to reach some people of Amit Shah and others, the course of the probe changed directions. Where has the smuggled gold disappeared, why can’t it be located,” asked Vijayan.

He told the gathering that this is a political fight and our opponents do not play the game in the proper way so we have to fight it out.

“Over the years we have fought off everything that came against us. No force can stop us and so let us go forward the way we handled the local body polls,” added Vijayan.

Also read:PICS: Rahul’s Kerala visit