Yesterday, Ashwini ML, the NDA candidate for Kasaragod Lok Sabha constituency, updated on social media that CPM goons stopped her vehicle and abused and harassed her.
“I am deeply saddened to inform you that during our election campaign today, CPM goons stopped our vehicle at Valiyaparamba, Padanna Kadappuram, and I was subjected to harassment.“
“Despite this cowardly attempt to disrupt our campaign and silence our voice, I want to reassure you that nobody can stop our election campaign. In a democratic system, every candidate has the right to ask for votes anywhere, and we will fight against any attempts to suppress that right. We refuse to be intimidated or silenced.“
“Instead, we will intensify our campaign efforts and continue to stand up for what we believe in. I urge all of you to join us in condemning this attack on democracy and supporting our cause. We can overcome any obstacle and bring about the change our community deserves. Thank you for your unwavering support.“
When the BJP campaign team arrived at Padanna Beach for electioneering, they were ordered to remove their vehicle. Ashwini said the CPM cadre who blocked her vehicle informed her team that they could not canvas there.
Undeterred, the lady began to speak to the public. One goon approached her and used vulgar language, asking Ashwini to stop talking. Ashwini said that one CPM goon said, “Ask her father to come and take her along.” The CPM assailants abused the BJP candidate profanely.
Ashwini asked if this was the situation of an NDA candidate and what might be the plight of the other women in the region. She reminded women that this issue exists all over Kasaragod.
These people do not show respect to women and have now insulted me. I can go anywhere in my Bharat and ask for votes. The CPM cadre has interrupted my campaign. What troubled me the most was that they insulted my father. I have filed an FIR and requested the police to respond quickly.
I am receiving positive vibes as I interact with the people. CPM knows I will win, so they create nuisances and misbehave. Ashwini added that she is unafraid of such (terror) tactics and will go alone in her election campaign.
Ashwini also updated videos of police arresting someone from a communist mob. Even as the communist goons tried to resist the police, they were seen detaining someone and taking him into a police van.
When CPM goons confronted Ashwini, she asked them, “We are from respectable families. Don’t you have any manners for verbally abusing my father? Don’t we have any rights?” The police were seen having a rough time containing the goons.
Chandera police registered a case against two for obstructing the campaign of the NDA candidate at Padanna Beach. They arrested 2 CPM supporters and released them on station bail. PP Ratheesh and PP Arun were arrested.
NDA office-bearers said they would consider filing a complaint with the Women’s Commission. On the complaint filed by ML Ashwini, a case was registered under various sections of the Representation of the People Act and the Kerala Prevention of Disturbances of Public Meetings Act.
BJP district president Ravisha Tantri Kuntar said that NDA candidate ML Ashwini’s campaign was obstructed due to CPM’s fear of failure. The BJP district president also alleged that democratic rights are being blatantly destroyed in CPM strongholds. Ashwini said that regardless of threats, she will meet all sections of the people and appeal for votes.
Communists are irked at BJP candidates canvassing non-Hindu votes.
Kasaragod Lok Sabha constituency comprises the assembly segments of Manjeshwaram, Kasaragod, Udma, Kanhangad, Trikaripur, Payyanur, and Kalliasseri in the nearby Kannur district.
BJP national office bearer P K Krishnadas PK Krishnadas, current district president Ravisha Tantri Kuntar, and ML Ashwini were included in the preliminary list for the Kasaragod Lok Sabha constituency. Some party members party members of the BJP voiced support for Shobha Surendran. Ultimately, the BJP opted for ML Ashwini, the Manjeshwara Block Panchayat Member.
Ashwini, a fiery Mahila Morcha activist at the national level, has the know-how to organise work and, chiefly, can attract the core voter base. The party leadership believes that Yuva Morcha and Mahila Morcha workers will enthusiastically come forward for Ashwini. This move will yield some good results for the party, and the media have named Ashwini as BJP’s secret trump card.
Ashwini, the 38-year-old teacher fielded by the BJP, effortlessly switches between Malayalam, Kannada, and Tulu while interacting with people in Kasaragod. Kasaragod shares a border with neighbouring Karnataka. Ashwini said she is also conversant in Tamil, Hindi, English, Malayalam, Kannada, and Tulu. Speaking more than one language, she says, is a terrific way to build connections with older and female voters.
Ashwini was exposed to several languages early, having been born and raised in Karnataka among neighbours who spoke Tamil and Hindi. Despite being Malayalis, her parents had moved to Bengaluru many years prior. She only recently moved to Kasaragod following her marriage.
Ashwini added that speaking multiple languages is an excellent method for establishing rapport with female voters and senior people. Having served as a block panchayat member in Manjeshwara for the last three years, Aswini said the people of the constituency have been suffering from a lack of infrastructure facilities and underdevelopment for years.
She said the people of Kasaragod have depended on neighbouring Karnataka for better hospital facilities and educational institutions for decades. “Hundreds of students are travelling to Karnataka for their education as there are no good colleges here. There are also no good medical facilities. Drinking water issues are also acute,” she said.
Ashwini said she came to politics accidentally while serving as a teacher and has been active in the party since being selected as the national executive member of the Mahila Morcha. She has travelled to over ten states as part of organisational activities and election-related assignments and to participate in various meetings.
Padanna
Way back in 2016, of the 21 missing people from Kerala who left the country to join the Islamic State, 11 (including doctors, engineers and management professionals) were Padanna natives. Muslims are the majority community in Padanna. The EK and AP Sunni factions, the Kerala Nadvathul Mujahideen, the Tabligh-e-Jama’at, and the Jama’at-e-Islami are all present here.
All outfits have their mosques, madrassas, and even libraries. According to rough estimates, the village has 35 mosques of different sizes along a four-kilometre stretch. Religious organisations have hijacked public libraries and discourses. Islamist religious extremism and radicalisation fester in the coastal belt. Institutions allegedly function as breeding grounds for terrorists.
Foreign remittances, mainly from Gulf countries, have enabled the people of Padanna to build palatial houses and buy high-end cars and the latest electronic gadgets. Did they use money power to hire CPM goons?
Women Representatives
the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leads with four female candidates (Shobha Surendran from Alappuzha, Prof TN Sarasu from Alathur and Sangeetha Viswanath from Idukki) in the state, followed by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) with two and the Congress and the Communist Party of India (CPI) with one each. The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) has not fielded female candidates.
Green communists, Congress and its Muslim allies, Hindus In Name Only (HINO) atheists and extremist Islamists have turned Kerala into a male chauvinist society. They possess fixed beliefs of male superiority that translate into atrocities against women. The perpetrators are brainwashed to believe their actions are not wrong. This theology has penetrated Hindu minds.
CPI Wayanad candidate Annie Raja also recently raised the issue of women politicians facing sexist attacks. “The greatest challenge that women politicians who are assertive face is character assassination,” she said. Incidentally, she is relatively safe since it is the communists who publicly harass ladies, especially the women candidates of opposing political parties.
Padmaja Venugopal, daughter of late Congress stalwart and former Kerala Chief Minister K Karunakaran, who recently joined the BJP, has voiced similar apprehensions.
Padmaja contested the 2021 Assembly elections from Thrissur. “I was left out of committees during the election, and four or five party members tried to get me to leave Thrissur and cause me trouble elsewhere. When I complained, the party leadership did not take it seriously, which was hurtful to me,” Padmaja said.
When she left Congress, Youth Congress president Rahul Mamkootathil cast slanderous aspersions on Padmaja’s pedigree and parentage. Padmaja promised that Mamkootathil would answer in court for the misogynistic insinuations he made against her parents. The Youth Congress president refused to retract the controversial comment or clarify it.
Padmaja’s brother, Congress leader and Vatakara MP K Muraleedharan stated that since Padmaja works from home, she doesn’t require any additional consideration on top of what she currently has. Padmaja said Muraleedharan knew that she had been experiencing health issues for more than a year and a half.
Muraleedharan declared that he was breaking up with his sister and that her choice was a betrayal, adding that their father’s spirit would not approve of it.
Padmaja’s father, Karunakaran, and Muraleedharan splintered the Congress party to form the Democratic Indira Congress (Karunakaran) (DIC(K) political outfit in 2005. They allied with the communists, lost elections comprehensively, allied with the Nationalist Congress Party and returned to Congress. Padmaja did not leave Congress back then.
She contested the Thrissur assembly election on a Congress ticket. While BJP candidate Suresh Gopi polled 40 thousand odd votes, Padmaja got 43 thousand and lost to CPI leader P Balachandran who got 44,000 votes. Muraleedharan now faces Suresh Gopi for the Thrissur Lok Sabha seat.
Annie Raja said that Mamkootathil’s remarks showed disrespect for women in public life. A civilised and democratic society had no place for such male-chauvinist and anti-feminist behaviour.
Ashwini continues to campaign, but the question remains. Is the election campaign safe for women candidates in Kerala?
