Kerala Assembly Elections | No question of leaving Haripad: Chennithala

Alappuzha: Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala has sought to quash rumours regarding his plans to change Haripad assembly constituency during the upcoming state polls.

"Haripad is like a mother to me. There is no question of leaving Haripad and going elsewhere," the Congress leader said. His statement also came in the wake of media reports that the opposition leader was scouting for other seats.

Underlining his faith in the voters of the constituency, Chennithala and his family members have applied for being enrolled as voters of ward No 28 of Haripad Municipality, a change from a Chennithala ward where they have been registered on the electoral rolls so far. This confirms that the opposition leader has no intention to move out.

In the run-up to the Assembly polls, there have been rumours that Chennithala was planning to contest from Changanassery, Chengannur or Vattiyoorkavu.

With the rumours growing by the day, Chennithala convened a press conference to declare that he was not going anywhere from Haripad.

Chennithala's supporters say that the opposition leader has been winning consecutively from Haripad constituency, which has more of a Left character, because of his association with the people.

In the last assembly elections, Haripad was the lone seat won by the United Democratic Front (UDF) in Alappuzha district. Political observers say that if Chennithala changed his constituency it would not only affect him personally but also the entire UDF led by his party. Since his debut contest in 1982, the people of Haripad have stood with him in four assembly elections, though he was upset in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections from the Mavelikkara constituency encompassing nearby areas.

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