One for vegans in a state with 84% non-vegetarians

WADAKKANCHERRY: A V K Moosad campaigns not for fellow humans. "Give me a vote for dumb friends," he beseeches voters.
Moosad, a secretary of Indian Vegetarian Congress, carries an umbrella that gives out messages of vegetarian bliss and non-vegetarian bane.
Another placard is hung around his neck showing the picture of a beast being butchered for meat."Do we have to be so cruelty to animals?" this advocate of vegetarianism asks, bemoaning that no party has ever said in its manifesto that it will try to spread the messages of vegetarianism, although Directive Principles of the Constitution set it as a cherished objective.
Vegetarianism not only protects health but sharpens intellect, he claims. "Let's not make our stomach a graveyard for animals", he pleads.
Moosad travels on foot, as he has no money to pay for a campaign. Some bills printed with help people like Justice V R Krishan Aiyer, some Tamil and Karnataka brahmins who are for vegetarianism.
This is the seventh electoral fight for Moosad. He has never missed any poll since 1994, be it for Parliament or assembly. He gets between 3,000 to 5,000 votes.
"My aim is to spread the message. But one day, men will come to my aid and I will in turn go to the aid of the dumb friends." The irony is Moosad is fighting on a vegetarian plank in a state where 84% of population is nonvegetarians.