A Congress candidate without the ‘hand’ symbol is as helpless as a horseman without a saddle.
This is a piquant and slippery situation in which KPCC member and former DCC secretary Mambaram Divakaran finds himself.
The UDF candidate for the Dharmadam constituency has been deprived of the hand symbol and is now contesting as an independent. It was the confusion in the UDF over the candidate in the constituency that led Mr Divakaran to this unenviable condition.
Earlier, it was announced the CMP will be contesting the seat. But during the deliberations the party withdrew from the fray leaving the Congress to take over the seat. Instead the CMP was given the Nattika seat.
The decision to field Mr Divakaran was taken on the eve of the last day for filing nomination.
There was a frantic attempt to secure the sanction letter from the KPCC to attest that Mr Divakaran is the official Congress candidate. DCC leaders even tried to hire a chopper to bring the sanction letter.
But it did not work out and finally Mr Divakaran filed the papers as an independent candidate to take on LDF’s K.K. Narayanan.
As a result, the UDF campaign in Dharmadam is in complete disarray.
The flex boards look ‘naked’ as they do not have the symbol of the candidate. They simply say, “Vote for the UDF-independent candidate.’’
“We wanted to give a tough fight to the CPI(M) but we lost our precious time in squabbling,’’ said a dejected Congress worker.
“We have opted for the television symbol and we hope that the Election Commission will allot it for us,’’ said the UDF election committee chairman, Mr N.P. Thahir.