NEYYATINKARA: Poll-bound Neyyatinkara came to an absolute standstill on Wednesday as CPM veteran V S Achuthanandan, who was on a five-hour lightning tour, drew large crowds at seven main election meetings he addressed across the constituency. Leaving the ‘VS effect’ largely visible, he lifted the spirit of the LDF camp which was at a low ebb in the face of frontal attack unleashed by the UDF and the BJP in the aftermath of the T P Chandrasekharan murder and the revelations made by CPM Idukki district secretary M M Mani. Though Achuthanandan did not touch any of the controversial topics in his speeches, it seemed just his presence was enough for the comrades, particularly the youth, to take the campaign to fever pitch on the penultimate day, in a place which is believed to be a VS stronghold. VS kickstarted the whirlwind tour from Mullaruvila at 3.30 pm by coming down heavily on Selvaraj, calling him a ‘’renegade and traitor, who defected to the Congress necessitating the byelection.’’“You had elected a candidate one year back but he proved to be a traitor who cheated you and defected to the UDF. Now A K Antony, Oommen Chandy and Ramesh Chennithala are supporting this traitor who thrust on you a byelection. If he is elected again, there is every possibility of him ditching them and approaching us within three months seeking vote again,’’ he said in his own characteristic style of stretching long and adding too much stress on certain words. The next stop was Kamukinkode. Hundreds of youth accompanied him on two- wheelers waving the red flag bearing the party symbol.Throwing the traffic on the busy road haywire, the red brigade proceeded blowing horns, rallying behind VS. When the bandwagon reached Kamukinkode, a crowd of around three thousand shouting slogans received him at 3.45 pm.Addressing the gathering, Achuthanandan reminded them it was the soil of Swdeshabhimani Ramakrishnan Pillai and freedom fighter Veeraraghavan and it was the tradition of the sons of the soil to avenge the renegade and defector. Large number of women were also present at the meeting. From Kamukinkode, he rushed to Amravila junction on the National Highway where traffic came to grinding halt for hours. In the busy Amaravila junction, he pointed out that under the “anti-people’’ UDF Government all sectors had been crumbled. Over 60 farmers committed suicide following the hike in the prices of manure. Public distribution system has been “torpedoed,’’ `450 crore had been sanctioned by the previous LDF Government for developing infrastructure for Vizhinjam project. But the project has not yet started.The Kochi metro has reached no where so far, he listed the ‘’failures’’ of the UDF Government. Police and the CPM workers had a tough time making way for him to leave for other venues; Ponvila, Plammootukada, Pazhaya Uchakkada, Pozhiyur and Mavilakkadavu. Large number of people waited on the wayside and on the terrace of their houses to have a glimpse of the leader.
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