Kottayam: Youth Congress state president Shafi Parambil on Saturday exuded confidence that youngsters of the Puthuppally assembly constituency will vote for UDF candidate Chandy Oommen in the September 5 bypoll.
Addressing an election rally at Puthuppally, the Palakkad MLA said, "The youth of the constituency have already made up their mind."
He said a strong anti-incumbency wave against the Pinarayi Vijayan-led LDF government is persisting across the state and it will reflect in the Puthuppally bypoll.
He is of the view that public anger against the LDF government was visible in the Thrikkakara bypoll results and it has only doubled since then.
Speaking to hundreds of workers of youth outfits of UDF allies, Shafi addressed the concerns over the exodus of youngsters from the state to foreign countries.
"Youth will continue to flee the state if the government continues in power. Youth should be able to study, get jobs and live here," he said.
"Centralisation of corruption is happening in Kerala under the Chief Minister and his family," he said.
Addressing the criticism that Chandy Oommen is a political novice compared to his opponents, especially CPM's Jaick C Thomas, Shafi listed Chandy's achievements in the student and youth wings of Congress.
"I can say with confidence that Chandy Oommen's political career is at least a day more than that of his opponents," he said.
Addressing the gathering, Opposition Leader V D Satheesan urged the CPM workers of Puthuppally assembly constituency to vote for Chandy Oommen in the bypoll.
Sounding a word of caution for the followers of the ruling party, Satheesan said: “If Chandy Oommen doesn’t win by a huge margin in the bypoll, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s arrogance will just peak. It will lead to the end of the CPM in Kerala just like what happened in West Bengal. So, I urge all the real communists of Puthuppally to vote for Chandy if they want their party to survive.”
