Panakkad family junks poll meet, UDF red-faced in Kerala
MALAPPURAM: In what is being interpreted as a loud, clear and blunt message, members of the revered Panakkad Thangal family didn't show up for the election convention of UDF candidate Aryadan Shoukath in Nilambur on Monday. The no-show has embarrassed the Opposition front, already mired in one controversy after another.
No one from the family turned up for the convention though at least two key members were in Malappuram. IUML state president Panakkad Syed Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal is in Saudi Arabia for Haj. In his absence, it was normal practice to depute Malappuram district president Syed Abbas Ali Shihab Thangal for important functions. Syed Munavvar Ali Shihab Thangal, state president of the Muslim Youth League, also stayed away from the function.
CPM was quick to react to the development forcing the UDF on to the back foot. 'No one from the Panakkad family turned up for the UDF convention. Neither did (senior leaders) Sudhakaran and Ramesh Chennithala,' CPM central committee member P K Sreemathy posted on Facebook. 'Can the Panakkad family campaign for a candidate who abused Thangal?' asked Bineesh Kodiyeri, the son of former CPM state secretary late Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, in another social media post
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