Kerala MBA grad refuses to fight polls after BJP names him as candidate

In a major cause of embarrassment to the BJP, an MBA graduate in Kerala has declined to contest the April 6 assembly elections after being fielded by the party from Mananthawady seat in Kerala’s Wayanad district. Besides refusing to take the poll plunge, Manikuttan, 31, has also decided to quit politics.

Announcing his candidature while releasing their list on Sunday evening, the BJP had said Manikuttan was the first person from the Paniya tribe to get an MBA degree.

However, he refused the BJP’s offer to contest from Mananthawady, which is reserved for Scheduled Tribes, with “due respect” while stating that he is a common man and does not wish to be part of the politics of elections. “I want to have a job and family,” he said.

The candidate said he was surprised and panicked when he saw his name being announced on the television; also happy that he was chosen from the community. But he said that he informed the party over phone he was not willing to be a candidate, according to NDTV.

This comes as a major cause of embarrassment to the BJP, which has been trying to up its game in Kerala, a state dominated by the CPI(M)-led LDF and Congress-led UDF. The party has only MLA in the 140-member assembly.

The party has fielded 88-year-old ‘Metro Man’ E Sreedharan from Palakkad constituency, and is banking on his image as that of a successful engineer credited for the ambitious Delhi Metro and other big infra projects across India, to make some impact in the state elections slated for April 6 and whose votes will be counted on May 2.

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