Thrissur: S Sreekuttan, the chairman candidate of the Congress-affiliated Kerala Students’ Union (KSU) in the controversial election at Kerala Varma College in Thrissur, does not harbour any ambition to become a full-time politician.
Sreekuttan was speaking to the media on Thursday at the District Congress Committee (DCC) office here after his victory in the election by one vote was allegedly overturned at the behest of leaders of the CPM-led Students’ Federation of India (SFI) during a dramatic recount which lasted late into the night.
“My goal is to pursue post-graduation after completing BA and attempt the Civil Service Examination alongside,” he said.
“I will now be focusing on studies,” Sreekuttan added.
Sreekuttan, who is 100-percent visually impaired, made it clear that this handicap will not in any way affect his efforts to realize his dreams.
‘KSU invited me to contest’
When asked how he became a candidate for the college union elections at Kerala Varma, Sreekuttan replied, “KSU invited me to contest as chairman. When all my friends also compelled me, I decided to join the fray.”
To another query, Sreekuttan said that he did not hail from a family with a political background. “In fact, most of my relatives support the Left. Only my father Sivadasan, a taxi driver at Mundur in Palakkad, and my mother Supriya favour the Congress in our family,” he said.
On the initial result of the counting at the college in which he had won, Sreekuttan said, “I felt elated. Total dominance should be opposed everywhere for everyone’s good.”
Sreekuttan felt that SFI could not digest his victory. “They destroyed democracy by sabotaging the election result,” he said.
Earlier, Kerala’s Opposition Leader V D Satheesan had said that Sreekuttan’s win was a victory of democracy. “However, some teachers who were the returning officers sabotaged the result owing to their political bias,” he alleged.
K Sudhakaran, president of the state unit of the Congress, also said that SFI had violated democratic principles by overturning Sreekuttan’s victory.
Mystery surrounds voting figures
Meanwhile, the exact voting figures were not revealed by the authorities even two days after the election. The data was not officially published even after demands in this regard by the candidates, workers and the students who voted.
During the first counting, the total number of votes polled by Sreekuttan and the SFI candidate was 1791. However, after the recount, it was found that the total votes had decreased to 1788. It was not explained where three votes had disappeared.
Warm welcome for Sreekuttan
Even though he lost the election, Sreekuttan was given a grand reception at Kerala Varma College by hundreds of students on Thursday morning. He was lifted on shoulders by other students and carried from the college gate to the office of the principal. During this time, a group of SFI leaders were leaving the office building and they were booed by Sreekuttan’s supporters. However, the SFI leaders left the area quietly, without raising a protest or provoking the others.