C.C. Mukundan MLA was hailed as an "ideal communist" by many last year when his financial constraints shocked Kerala. His roofs were literally leaking, and his home was prone to foreclosure by a bank due to pending loan payments. The Nattika legislator was unable to pay back the sum he borrowed to meet the wedding expenses of his daughter.
Then, he suffered a serious injury to his right leg after slipping on rainwater inside his house. The family had been sleeping in the hall, and it was there that he fell. His party colleagues were largely unaware of these realities as Mukundan, who won the Nattika seat by a huge majority, kept his private matters to himself. Many CPI leaders and supporters came to know about the situation only when an image of the MLA resting in a hall with a cushion under his leg went viral on the internet.
It has not been a year since all that happened, but Mukundan has cut all ties with the CPI—the second-largest constituent of Kerala's ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF). The communist party wants former MLA Geetha Gopi to fight from Nattika yet agin, and Mukundan is unhappy. He is reportedly willing to stand as an independent from the constituency in the Thrissur district if the principal opposition, the United Democratic Front (UDF), will back him.
C.C. Mukundan defeated his nearest rival, Sunil Laloor of the Congress, by an imposing majority of 28,431 votes in the Nattika constituency of the Thrissur district in 2021. In 2016 and 2011, Geetha Gopi registered victories of 26,777 and 16,054 votes respectively.
ALSO READ | Kerala assembly polls: Another payment seat controversy rocking CPI?
Mukundan claims he is being replaced because the CPI thinks she is more useful when it comes to fundraising. The ground-level CPI workers of Nattika are with him, he claimed after meeting with a former DCC chief. While the BJP is also interested in bringing Mukundan into its fold, ideological differences and the strong influence of the Left in the constituency are likely to push him towards the Congress ranks instead.
Will Congress pull off a masterclass in the red bastion through C.C. Mukundan? Only time will tell.