Padmaja Venugopal, daughter of former Chief Minister late K Karunakaran has lambasted T N Prathapan MP for ‘backstabbing’ her during the 2021 Assembly election from Thrissur.
In a complaint to the Congress High Command, Padmaja, who lost narrowly to P Balachandran of the CPI by a thin margin of 946 votes, has alleged that a group led by Prathapan worked to ensure her defeat in the election as part of rampant groupism in the party.
“Though I had lost the 2016 Assembly election from Thrissur, I stayed put in the constituency and worked for the Congress. It was because of the track record the party decided to field me from Thrissur. Many Left supporters had voted for me despite the efforts by a group led by Prathapan who represents Thrissur in the Lok Sabha,” Padmaja had said in the complaint.
Interestingly, the Congress, which has strong presence in Thrissur district lost in 12 out of the 13 Assembly constituencies in the district. Padmaja has named six persons, all local leaders, who plotted against her. “I was denied permission to board the vehicle in which Priyanka Gandhi was holding a road show in my constituency,” said Padmaja. All those named by her in the complaint were one-time acolytes of her late father Karunakaran.
