Four Congress leaders from Wayanad district quit party ahead of Kerala Assembly election

Four Congress leaders from Kerala’s Wayanad district tendered their resignations in a jolt to the party ahead of the 6 April Assembly election in the state. KPCC secretary MS Vishwanathan, DCC general secretary Anil Kumar, KPCC executive committee member KK Vishwanathan and Mahila Congress state secretary Sujaya Venugopal resigned from the party. The constituency is represented by former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi in the Lok Sabha. While Kumar joined Lok Tantrik Janata Dal (LJD) a few days ago, after complaints that he had been sidelined and the party’s failure to consider local sentiments, Vishwanathan, who belongs to the prominent Kuruma tribal community in Wayanad is yet to join any party. Vishwanathan quit the party in protest against the party’s failure to ensure “social justice in the distribution of seats”, The Indian Express reported. “Kuruma community has been neglected in the seat-sharing exercise. I have the support of my community. The posts of DCC president and the legislator are held by one person. I had already expressed my dissent much earlier,” he said. The presence of CPM leaders at a press meet in the Sulthan Bathery municipality where Viswanathan is presently a councillor, raised questions if the Congress leader was planning to switch to the Left party, according to The NewsMinute. Both Viswanathan and Venugopal have hinted at joining the CPM, with the latter being seen at the march held by the Left party in Wayanad’s Kalpetta. Congress deployed its senior leader K Sudhakaran to defuse the situation. “There is a misconception that leaders in Wayanad are quitting en masse. As far as Congress is concerned, there is no problem. Two of our leaders joined the Left parties. But two CPM leaders have joined the Congress as well,” he was quoted as saying by NDTV. Meanwhile, CPM leader EM Sankaran, who also belongs to the Kuruma community, joined the Congress, stating in a Facebook post that he believes “only Congress can defeat fascist force BJP’’. With inputs from PTI