THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A day after the rumblings which emanated from Neyyattinkara continued to rock the political scenario of the state with allegations and counter-allegations, the UDF took a backfoot on Saturday and began to maintain a cautious distance from estranged former CPM MLA R Selvaraj.Interestingly, the backtracking of top UDF leaders came as Selvaraj dropped enough hints of his willingness to switch sides.Amid a LDF campaign that UDF bigwigs including Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Government Chief Whip P C George were behind the plot which prompted Selvaraj to quit and thereby dealing a big political blow to the CPM before the Piravom bypoll, the Congress realised that further hype on the issue may not bode well for the UDF politically.Moreover, as a proof to the charge against George, old video clippings showing his prediction of “big political happenings is bound to occur in a week and the state will remain engrossed in it’’ is also out.Opposition Leader V S Achuthanandan on Saturday reiterated that Selvaraj had gone to Oommen Chandy’s house in the wee hours of Friday and George donned the role of a mediator in the whole episode.He also alleged that large sums of money had changed hands in the Chief Minister’s house. CPM secretary Pinarayi Vijayan also held Chandy as manipulator number one in the Selvaraj episode, while describing George as a mere tool.Chief Minister Oommen Chandy stated on Saturday that there was no dearth of candidates for the UDF to field in the Neyyattinkara Assembly segment in an election. P C George, who had stated on Friday that Selvaraj will be supported if he contested the byelection, made a volte face on Saturday and declared that there is no question of making him the UDF candidate.“I had spoken to the Chief Minister. No word has been given to Selvaraj,” George said.K Muraleedharan MLA was more harsh and said that the UDF was not in a pathetic state to field Selvaraj as its candidate.It is believed that the Congress began to tread cautiously after the LDF reportedly decided to launch a virulent campaign in the Piravom segment raising allegations of ‘horse trading’ in the resignation of Selvaraj.
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