NEYYATINKARA: How the electorate in Neyyatinkara is viewing the appearance of R Selvaraj, a CPM MLA till recently, in UDF attire? ‘Express’ has gathered a mixed response from voters in various parts of the constituency. While a section of them felt that there might be a solid reason for Selvaraj to quit the CPM, others shared the feeling that his act was against political morality and yet another section pointed out that the act of quitting a party and joining the rival party demoralised the voters. ‘’CPM’s treatment of Selvaraj was not fair. Why the party didn’t intervene when a section of it tried to corner him?’’ said Satheesh and Aji, sand mining labourers of Vlathankara in Chenkal panchayat. They also said that LDF candidate F Lawrence was also one who changed parties many times. Thankamani, a mechanic residing at Vlangamuri in the municipality, said that there must be something which the common people did not know about the political somersault of Selvaraj. ‘’How can we know the undercurrents? Before going into the merit or demerit of Selvarj’s act, one should know the undercurrents,’’ Thankamani said. His wife Baby and daughters Rakhi and Maya, who are first-time voters, echoed the same views. ‘’We would not be affected by propaganda. It will be purely subjective,’’ the girls studying for degree courses said. But for Syamala and Sasi, a couple residing not far away from Thankamani’s house, strongly opposed Selvaraj’s act. ‘’We would ask him when did he feel it was better to join Congress than committing suicide,’’ they said. But Arogya Mary and Sindhu, natives of Pozhiyur, the coastal area of Kulathur panchayat, angrily said that they were fed up with the kind of ditching practised by politicians. ‘’We feel that we should not go to the polling booth.’’ Geetha and Mary of Karode panchayat, who were on their way back from a church, also shared the same feeling. Krishnan and Thankappan, workers at Chenkal kiln, said that their votes would be political as always. “The LDF’s agenda to portray Selvaraj as a betrayer has failed to make desired impact. The UDF campaign that Selvaraj would have met with the same fate as RMP leader T P Chandrasekharan had he not quit the party is also making only a mixed response,’’ a local CPM activist said.
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