Alappuzha: Former personal staff of V S Achuthanandan contested as independent candidate and defeated CPM candidate in the local body polls.
Latheesh B Chandran was the personal staff member of Achuthanandan when he was chief minister.
He was elected from ward 12 of Muhamma panchayat for a majority of 129 votes.
Latheesh defeated former panchayat president J Jayalal of LDF. When Latheesh secured 554 votes, Jayalal got 425 votes, Congress candidate received 36 votes and BJP got 69 votes. Even if votes of Congress and BJP were added, it would not equal Latheesh’s majority.
Earlier, Latheesh was added as accused in a case for vandalising Krishna Pillai memorial, but later court acquitted him. Though he hoped that the party would take him back after the acquittal, no action was initiated.
Latheesh was ousted from the party for staging a protest march against the CPM when V S Achuthanandan was denied seat in the 2006 assembly election. This issue was probed by a committee headed by Jayalal.
Latheesh alleged that he was named accused even though he was not present at the place during the time of the incident. He said he contested the election to express his protest. He added that he has disagreements with only the local leadership of the party.
“As I belong to the family of a Punnapra-Vayalar protester, I will continue to be a CPM worker always,” Latheesh clarified. Though he defeated the LDF candidate in the ward, Muhamma panchayat was won by LDF.
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