For the people of Kalpetta, he is the barefooted milkman who is always seen with a smile on his face and is actively involved in the issues of tribespeople and plantation workers in the area.
His untainted image, constant engagement with the issues affecting the working class, and his strong Communist-Marxist ideologies made him a politician with a difference.
On Thursday last when the State Assembly election results came out, it was these qualities that helped C.K. Saseendran, a marginal farmer and district secretary of the CPI(M), to defeat M.V. Shreyamskumar, two-time legislator and media magnate, with a stunning majority.
Mr. Saseendran told The Hindu that his outstanding victory in the election was public recognition for his efforts in uplifting the marginalised sections of the society. “My secular stand while handling social issues and the Left Democratic Front wave across the State contributed towards my success,” said the 58-year-old farmer.
He begins his day by milking his cows and selling the produce at a milk cooperative near his house at Maniyankode. A full-time party worker, Mr. Saseendran began his political career at a young age.
He was joint secretary of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) unit while he was a Chemistry graduate student at Guruvayurappan College, Kozhikode. Later, he was the district secretary as well as presidentof the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) in the district from 1989 to 1996. It was while he was serving as the district secretary of the CPI(M) that he was chosen to contest from Kalpetta constituency.
Mr. Saseendran said that as MLA, he would give priority to the issues of tribespeople, farmers and plantation workers. Setting up of farm-based industries, putting an end to the centuries-old system of paddi (estate lanes) in tea estates, and expediting measures for the setting up of the proposed medical college in the hill district top the agenda of the leader.
