Thrissur: In ward no. 16 of Thekumkara panchayat, a hitherto Congress election hopeful - Blessy Aji from Elikunirappel Puthanapura - met an unexpected blow the last minute when MLA Anil Akkara declared the party did not want a Christian candidate there. Blessy completed two rounds of campaign in Panangadkara at the time Anil Akkara suddenly asked her to back out from elections. After filing her nomination, Blessy had also made scores of door-to-door visits soliciting votes.
She never asked to be fielded and was in fact persuaded to accept the candidature, said Blessy. The ward being that of Minister AC Moideen, there should be sure victory at any cost, the MLA had said in encouragement.However all that changed on Tuesday.
That evening, the MLA called Blessy and asked her to withdraw her nomination papers saying, a Christian candidate would not be appropriate for the ward. To Blessy it was a huge deceit, she said. The panchayat member who introduced her house-to-house apologised for the situation. It is all about strife between A & I group that I don’t know much about, said Blessy. I am an ordinary Congress worker and have been told to keep out owing to my religion; may be UDF doesn’t want Christians, she mused.
When nominated as candidate, Anil Akkara had initially congratulated Blessy and garlanded her with the symbolic shawl. Now he has put that around another person, said Blessy. And, I don’t know if there will be a new recipient to the shawl tomorrow, she added.
This kind of ouster is an insult to the Christian community. There might be people belonging to different religious denominations. Nobody should be treated like this. In concluding her grievance, Blessy said she has not decided to withdraw her nomination papers. Not yet.
