City
Epaper

Will boycott Kerala govt representative in Delhi: Congress MPs

By IANS | Updated: August 4, 2019 13:15 IST

Upset by the decision of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan of appointing a CPI-M leader, who lost the Lok Sabha polls, to liaison with the Centre in Delhi, senior Congress MPs have threatened to boycott all meetings which the new appointee will attend.

Open in App

In a Cabinet meeting last week, Vijayan appointed three-time former Lok Sabha member A. Sampath as the state government's representative in Delhi.

Senior Congress leader and son of K. Karunakaran, K. Muraleedharan, who registered a handsome win at the Vadakara Lok Sabha seat said on Sunday that the Chief Minister was sidelining all the MPs who had won the recent elections.

"This is a clear act of sidelining those who won the polls. We have nothing personal against Sampath and we wish he does not take up the post. We will not cooperate with this and in case he takes part in any meetings, we will even consider to boycott all such meetings. We are also planning to raise this issue in Parliament," said Muraleedharan.

Sampath, who was aiming for a hat-trick of wins from the Attingal Lok Sabha constituency, was defeated by Congress legislator Adoor Prakash.

The CPI-M-led Left Front suffered one of its worst electoral reverses in the parliamentary polls when all but one of the 20 seats were won by the Congress-led UDF.

Incidentally, Sampath's appointment comes at a time when there are 33 MPs from Kerala, which includes 20 Lok Sabha MPs, nine in the Rajya Sabha, two nominated members Suresh Gopi and Richard Hay (Anglo Indian), besides K.J. Alphons and Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan (both elected to the Upper House from other states).

Expressing his resentment over Sampath's appointment, Chalakudy Lok Sabha member and Congress veteran Benny Behanan said that the Kerala government did not consult with the MPs about his appointment.

"We are being sidelined by Vijayan. Even when the Parliament was in session, he did not even give us a copy of the memorandum that he gave to the Centre. Then came the appointment of Sampath which is nothing but an insult. We don't think there is a need to cooperate with the new appointee," said Behanan.

( With inputs from IANS )

Tags: Lok SabhaK MuraleedharancongressBenny Behanan
Open in App

Related Stories

NagpurNagpur Municipal Election 2026: Congress Targets BJP Over ‘Flyover-Only Development,’ Vows to Take Civic Issues to Voters

MumbaiBMC Elections 2026: Congress Releases First List of 87 Candidates for Mumbai Civic Polls

MaharashtraKMC Elections 2026: Congress Announces First List of 48 Candidates for Kolhapur Municipal Corporation Polls

PunePrashant Jagtap, Former NCP-SP Pune City Chief, Joins Congress Ahead of PMC Elections

NationalPM Modi Congratulates NDA Workers as BJP-MGP Wins Big in Goa Zilla Panchayat Polls

National Realted Stories

NationalCBI files final chargesheet in Bengal municipalities jobs case

National‘Frustrated’ AAP leaders lying about teachers’ role in stray dog count: Delhi BJP

NationalEC survey selectively used to build misleading narrative, claims CM Siddaramaiah

NationalAndhra captures 25.3 pc of all proposed investments in India

NationalMajor administrative overhaul in Indore Municipal Corporation after water contamination tragedy