Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi left workers of the United Democratic Front (UDF) electrified as he campaigned for K.M. Abhijith and Noorbina Rasheed, candidates from Kozhikode North and Kozhikode South respectively, at the Kozhikode beach on Sunday. The party and the front hopes that Mr. Gandhi’s presence will swing the undecided voters from the district towards their candidates as public campaign concluded and shifted to the silent mode.
The ‘Rahul road show’ began from Puthiyakadavu beach in the afternoon and hundreds of workers of the Congress and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) thronged the area with their party flags. Earlier, Mr. Gandhi flew down at the Exhibition Grounds on a chopper. The Congress leader boarded an electric autorickshaw to go to the beach. As he stepped down from the vehicle, waiting workers thronged him.
Mr. Gandhi, Mr. Abhijith and Ms. Rasheed were seen along with Congress general secretary K.C. Venugopal atop an open vehicle and greeting the workers. Mr. Gandhi accepted pictures of him drawn by some children mid-way. Petals of golden showers ( konnappoo ) were thrown at him in some places. M.K. Raghavan, MP, and P.M. Niyas, UDF candidate from Beypore, boarded the vehicle in the course of the journey.
Local residents were seen standing atop the terraces of their houses and waving towards Mr. Gandhi, who reciprocated the gesture. When the vehicle reached the Vellayil harbour, which normally sees excited participation by party workers during the final round of the campaign, more people were seen on the road. The event culminated on the Light House premises and Mr. Gandhi left for Nemom in Thiruvananthapuram. The roadshow began around 2.30 p.m. and lasted about an hour.
The Congress does not have an MLA from the city for the past 20 years. The late A. Sujanapal, who won the polls from the then Kozhikode-1 seat in 2001, was its last representative in the Assembly. This time, the Congress hopes to snatch the seat, renamed Kozhikode North in 2011.
