Violence Erupts At Thrissur Congress Office Following Lok Sabha Election Defeat

The situation escalated when posters criticizing the district leadership for the "unexpected" loss appeared outside the Thrissur DCC office on Wednesday.

The conflict has its roots in the internal blame game following Muraleedharan's defeat.

Source : Facebook/Muraleedharan

Congress supporters clashed at the District Congress Committee (DCC) office in Thrissur after their star candidate, K. Muraleedharan, suffered a crushing defeat in the Lok Sabha elections. The historic victory of BJP's Suresh Gopi in the Thrissur Lok Sabha seat, marking the party's first win in Kerala, led to an outbreak of violence among Congress members.

The conflict has its roots in the internal blame game following Muraleedharan's defeat. Muraleedharan, the son of former Chief Minister K. Karunakaran, was moved from his stronghold in Vadakara to contest in Thrissur, replacing the incumbent MP T. N. Prathapan. Despite his reputation, he finished in third place, trailing behind CPI's V. S. Sunil Kumar. Suresh Gopi won by a significant margin of 74,686 votes, securing the seat for the NDA.

The issue started after supporters of Muraleedharan pointed fingers at former MP T. N. Prathapan and Vallur, accusing them of contributing to the poor performance in Thrissur. The situation escalated when posters criticizing the district leadership for the "unexpected" loss appeared outside the Thrissur DCC office on Wednesday, culminating in Friday's violent confrontation.

Tension Grips Congress DCC Office

The tensions reached a boiling point on Friday when a fight broke out at the Congress DCC office in Thrissur. Following the incident, the police registered an FIR against Thrissur DCC president Jose Vallur and 19 other party members based on a complaint from DCC secretary Sajeevan Kuriachira.

The accused have been charged under several bailable sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for unlawful assembly, rioting, wrongful restraint, and voluntarily causing hurt. In the complaint, Kuriachira alleged that he was assaulted by Vallur and his supporters during the altercation, as per a report on PTI.

In the aftermath of his defeat, Muraleedharan, who garnered 328,124 votes, expressed his disappointment and announced his decision to refrain from contesting future elections and to withdraw from public life for some time.