Election 2014: Former Congress MPs cross constituency over defeat

KOCHI: A day after the Congress was drubbed in two of its "sure" seats-- Thrissur and Chalakudy--- its candidate K P Dhanapalan today said he was 'forced' by the party leadership to contest from Thrissur and make way for AICC spokesperson, P C Chacko, to try his luck from Chalakudy.

"Pressure was put on me by senior leaders to shift my constituency from Chalakudy to Thrissur. I was forced to shift my constituency to make way for P C Chacko," a visibly emotional Dhanapalan told reporters.

The two seats were sure seats of the congress and the defeat of the party candidates in both to a certain extent was due to interchange of the constituencies, he said.

Dhanapalan, a sitting MP from Chalakudy, had begun his campaign work, when he was asked try his luck from Thrissur, the constituency held by Chacko, who had reportedly forced the leadership to shift him from Thrissur fearing group wars would harm his prospects.

"With tears, I pleaded to the leadership not to change me, to allow me to contest from Chalakudy. Lot of pressure was put on me," Dhanapalan said adding, the decision was taken not keeping in mind the pulse of the people.

Dhanapalan said he had nursed his constituency well. "I was called to Delhi and told by party leaders, including Mukul Wasnik, Ghulam Nabi Azad, A K Antony and many state leaders put pressure on me to contest from Thrissur."

"I love the party as my mother. So I agreed to contest from Thrissur even though I had told the high command that I was not keen to try my luck from Thrissur," he said.