‘Do not let your smile fade’: Rema writes to Shailaja after Vadakara loss
“When you leave, do not let the smile on your face fade,” wrote one woman politician to another in Kerala on Tuesday, June 4, the counting day of the 2024 general elections. In a social media post addressed to the Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader KK Shailaja, Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP) leader KK Rema said that Vadakara is a land where people want smiles, love, and laughter to last. “Isn’t it fortunate that you can leave Vadakara with the hope that this land will still welcome election debates that will see discussions on politics? In the coming elections, you can come back with the assurance that it won’t be religion, but human beings who work here,” Rema said. KK Shailaja was CPI(M)’s candidate in Vadakara in Kerala’s Kozhikode district, where she contested against the Congress’ Shafi Parambil. The latest numbers indicate that Shafi is set to win the constituency by a margin of over one lakh votes. Rema’s RMP is an ally in the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kerala. By noon, Shafi’s lead had risen above 10,000, putting Shailja, a strong candidate of the CPI(M) and former health minister of the state, in second place. Shafi's majority crossed 1.13 lakh votes by 3 pm. When the result became obvious, Rema penned her note for Shailaja, telling her, “Vadakara is a land where people want smiles to last, for love and laughter to last. It is a land that has held close the people who died and the people who failed,” referring to her late husband and politician TP Chandrasekharan. RMP leader Chandrasekharan was murdered by CPI(M) workers in 2012. He was a CPI(M) rebel who split away from the party and founded the RMP in 2008. Rema wrote, "Vadakara is a land that has sewn together whatever was severed, with an aching heart. The good people of this land cannot send anyone away crying. We are holding you close and giving you farewell.” Along with her note for Shailaja, Rema also posted a picture of the two women leaders smiling and holding hands. During the election campaign, when a morphed video of Shailaja was allegedly leaked by her rivals on Whatsapp, Rema had spoken for the rights of the CPI(M) leader. On June 4, when RMP members took out a march to celebrate Shafi's assured victory, Rema refused to raise her hand for the slogans when they took on a derogatory tone towards Shailaja. In Vadakara, KK Shailaja is the CPI(M)’s single stone for two birds
“WHEN you leave, do not let your smile fade,” wrote one woman politician to another in Kerala on Tuesday, the counting day of the 2024 general elections.
In a social media post addressed to the Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader KK Shailaja, Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP) leader KK Rema said that Vadakara is a land where people want smiles, love and laughter to last.
“Isn’t it fortunate that you can leave Vadakara with the hope that this land will still welcome election debates that will see discussions on politics? In the coming elections, you can come back with the assurance that it won’t be religion, but human beings who work here,” Rema said.
KK Shailaja was CPI(M)’s candidate in Vadakara in Kozhikode district, where she contested against the Congress’ Shafi Parambil. Shafi won the constituency by a margin of 1,15,157 votes. Rema’s RMP is an ally in the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kerala.
When the result became obvious, Rema penned her note for Shailaja, telling her, “Vadakara is a land where people want smiles to last, for love and laughter to last. It is a land that has held close the people who died and the people who failed,” referring to her late husband and politician TP Chandrasekharan.
RMP leader Chandrasekharan was murdered by CPI(M) workers in 2012. He was a CPI(M) rebel who split away from the party and founded the RMP in 2008.
Rema wrote, "Vadakara is a land that has sewn together whatever was severed, with an aching heart. The good people of this land cannot send anyone away crying. We are holding you close and giving you farewell.”
Along with her note for Shailaja, Rema also posted a picture of the two women leaders smiling and holding hands.
During the election campaign, when a morphed video of Shailaja was allegedly leaked by her rivals on Whatsapp, Rema had spoken for the rights of the CPI(M) leader.
On June 4, when RMP members took out a march to celebrate Shafi's assured victory, Rema refused to raise her hand for the slogans when they took on a derogatory tone towards Shailaja.
