After his defeat to BJP candidate Suresh Gopi in the Thrissur constituency, senior Congress leader K Muraleedharan declared on Tuesday that he would no longer contest elections and would take a break from public life. Hours after the Election Commission confirmed Suresh Gopi's victory, Muraleedharan expressed regret, suggesting he would have fared better had he contested from the Vadakara segment.
Muraleedharan, a seasoned politician with multiple terms as MLA and MP and the son of former chief minister late K Karunakaran, had to switch to the Thrissur segment from Vadakara at the last minute, following the directive of the party leadership, with the aim of countering the BJP's influence in the area.
Despite his confidence in victory and his dismissive remarks about the BJP's chances, Muraleedharan had to settle for third place after Gopi and CPI's Sunilkumar, as the election results were announced. Addressing reporters after the outcome, an emotional Muraleedharan expressed disappointment, particularly noting that he would have felt less disheartened if the Left candidate had emerged victorious.
"I have decided to stay away from contesting elections anymore... because I have lost the mood to contest polls. My decision is to stay away from public life itself for some time," he said, as per PTI.
Expressing dissatisfaction with the Congress's national leadership, Muraleedharan criticised the lack of support compared to the BJP and CPI. He highlighted Prime Minister Modi's extensive campaigning for Gopi and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's support for Sunil Kumar. Muraleedharan lamented that he received minimal backing, with only D K Shivakumar attending his campaign events, and noted Rahul Gandhi's absence due to food poisoning, although he expected others to step in.
According to Election Commission of India, Gopi secured a total of 4,12,338 votes while Sunilkumar got 3,37,652 votes.