By TCN News,
Malappuram: If you wonder what the Qureish tribe and Abu Jahal of 7th century Arabia have got to do with Kerala elections, politicians have the answer – anything and everything is a tool in election campaigning. While Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan spoke of the Qureish tribe and Prophet, Congress spokesman MM Hasan had Abu Jahal for an answer.
Chief Minister said in Vengara, while campaigning for the LDF candidate against Muslim League leader PK Kunjalikkutty, that people should recognize the Qureishis who approach them for votes in the guise of prophet. However, he did not mention the name of Kunjalikkutty. In reply, Mr MM Hasan said in Malappuram that the Chief Minister was playing the role of Abu Jahal, leader of the Qureish tribe. He was speaking at the ‘meet the press’ organized by the Malappuram Press Club.
Mr Achuthanandan accused the UDF of the overwhelming corruption in the UPA government, torture of women by the UDF leaders, etc. Anna Hazare was holding the protest against corruption below the nose of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who are soaked in corruption. Mr Hasan accused the CM and his party of their double standards in the torture of and other matters related to women, corruption etc, citing the examples of P Sasi who was accused of sexual molestation, VS’s opponent candidate Lathika Subhash who complained against VS of insulting her, Pinarayi Vijayan accused in the Lavalin scam accusing Sonia Gandhi of corruption, etc.
However, the leaders who spend their time and energy to throw allegations and allegory at each other find little time to attend to the burning issues of the common people. Malappuram district is said to be the most backward district in Kerala, with the largest population in the state. The district faces an acute problem in the field of higher education, with no enough seats in Plus Two, lack of enough colleges in the government sector, absence of government engineering and medical colleges, etc. The roads are like in the rest of the state, and if any difference, it is only that they are worse with full of gutters. The increase in the number of population and the increase in wealth because of Gulf money have led to a surging number of vehicles that adorn the roads. But only that, the roads are still the same old ones, without much width and good maintenance. The constant demand for railways and trains has always met deaf ears.
If you think it is only ‘lack’, ‘shortage’ and ‘absence’ that Malappuram has to say, there is something that is growing at a very high rate here – the rate of consumption of beverages. Ponnani and Tirur are in the top ten places in the state that consume most amounts of beverages in festive occasions like Onam, New Year and even Eid. The district with a large population of Muslims is not behind others in drug addiction also. But, how will political parties voice and work against this alcoholism when they have to supply bottles to get people to their rallies and programmes?