Kottayam: A foot bridge located in neighbouring Ettumanoor assembly constituency has become a talking point in the run-up to the September 5 Puthuppally bypoll, thanks to a heated social media debate.
The wooden pedestrian bridge found itself at the centre of a political debate after cyber warriors of the CPM-led Left parties circulated a photograph of late Chief Minister Oommen Chandy struggling to cross it.
It was captioned as a bridge in Puthuppally and shared as a symbol of the developmental backwardness of the constituency represented by the Congress stalwart for a record 53 years in a stretch.
Oommen Chandy's son Chandy Oommen is contesting the bypoll necessitated by the death of the former on Congress ticket. He faces CPM's young leader Jaick C Thomas.
The bridge row became viral as former UN official and popular social media influencer Muralee Thummarukudy joined the bandwagon. He shared the image on his Facebook page, which has nearly 2.5 lakh followers, even as admitting he was not sure about the veracity of the photo. His post was a criticism of the trend of a legislator's performance being assessed in terms of infrastructure development instead of participation in law making. However, his choice of the picture and the title of his post -- Bridge in Puthuppally -- obviously irked Congress supporters who alleged Thummarukudy was propagating the CPM's propaganda.
The false narrative was short lived as it was revealed that the bridge in the picture is actually in Ettumanoor constituency, a stronghold of the CPM. It is now represented by Cooperation Minister V N Vasavan. Before Vasavan, CPM strongman in Kottayam K Suresh Kurup represented the constituency for 10 years.
Kunju Illampally, Congress leader from the area, challenged the CPM, giving ammo to his party's campaign. He said the picture of Oommen Chandy crossing the bridge was taken by him on November 27, 2016. Oommen Chandy was there to wish the daughter of M I Velu, a Congress activist, who was getting married at the time.
The bridge is on the stretch between Malarickal and Irambam in Thiruvarppu panchayat goverened at present by the Left front. Kunju also posted a fresh photo of Velu crossing the foot bridge made of two arecanut planks tied together.
The Congress' cyber wing picked up the counter narrative, putting Vasavan in a fix. Youth Congress leader Rahul Mamkoottathil did a vlog-like video crossing the bridge. He said he was busting a big lie from the CPM camp.
Meanwhile, Thummarukudi posted a fresh note on Facebook admitting his mistake.
