Thiruvananthapuram: The ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) is planning to field former ISRO scientists Nambi Narayanan against the Shashi Tharoor, an incumbent from Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha constituency. The name is in the discussion at least among the top leadership of the ruling partners CPM and CPI, confirms a highly placed source in the alliance speaking with Newsd.
Narayanan is unaware of such development and denied of such claims and said, “People are telling so many stories, No one has approached me.”
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It is the partner CPI in the alliance who gets the seat and in 2014 they fielded Bennet Abraham an entrepreneur, who came on the third position after a surprise performance by the Bhartiya Janata Party candidate O Rajagopal.
Increase in BJP’s vote bank and the surprise by the BJP in 2014 is also a major concern for the ruling alliance LDF.
Narayanan was alleged of spying and transferring some confidential reports on India’s Space program in the espionage case of 1994.
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The supreme court of India cleared him of all charges and ordered a compensation of Rs. 50 lakh, which the Chief Minister has handed him already.
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The CPI wants a very strong candidate against the Congress veteran and ISRO scientist soaked in the wave of public sympathy is a strong choice against Tharoor.
The ISRO scientist spent around 2 months in jail and the Central Board of Investigation (CBI) couldn’t prove the allegations against him. The matter was handed over to the CBI by the state police who suspected the Narayanan role along with four others involved including two Maldivian women.
The case came into the light and hit the headlines in 1994 when Narayanan and one more scientist’s name cropped up in the case during an investigation by the state police.
