Union Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor has said that manipulation of electoral rolls in the Kannur Assembly constituency and political violence here has affected the image of the State.
Addressing an election campaign meeting organised by the United Democratic Front (UDF) on Tuesday evening, Mr. Tharoor said the three by-elections in the State including the one in Kannur constituency were an opportunity for the people to express their resentment against the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government ruling Kerala for more than three years. The LDF which had indulged in enrolling fake voters in the voters’ list here and fielded many namesakes of the Congress candidate A.P. Abdullakutty in the constituency was an affront to the reputation of the State. Stating that the people had a clear choice in the by-elections, he said there was public resentment against the LDF's tactics to win the election here through deceit.
The Minister said the district, known for people who had waged patriotic struggles during the freedom movement, was now being turned into a place to practise narrow party-politics. Urging the people to resist this move, he said the by-elections in the three constituencies were important as it allowed the people to teach the Communist Party of India (Marxist) that they did not want this kind of narrow-minded politics.
Stating that he had joined the Congress on being impressed by the performance of the previous government headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Mr. Tharoor said the leadership of Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Dr. Singh had resulted in implementing various welfare schemes, especially the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Programme. Kerala was the only State where the programme had been implemented badly, he said, adding that 90 per cent of the Central allocation for the programme had not been utilised in the State. The LDF government had also failed to implement Centre-sponsored schemes, he added.
Mr. Tharoor said the youths of today knew that they would have a better tomorrow their parents. The people should not opt for fake candidates and fake voters but vote for Mr. Abdullakutty who was worthy of the people, he said. The election results in Arunachal Pradesh, Haryana and Maharashtra were a message heard by the entire world, he said, adding that the nation wanted far-sighted and visionary leaders.
