In the lead-up to the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, when the Congress leadership was scouting for a candidate for the Kozhikode seat, senior leader A.K. Antony, then Union Minister for Defence, backed M.K. Raghavan, then Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee general secretary in charge of Kozhikode, to reclaim the constituency, once a stronghold of the party.
The Congress was then concerned about the potential loss of influence in the constituency as the polls were being held after delimitation. Two Assembly segments, Beypore and Kunnamangalam, perceived to be Left bastions, were amalgamated to it, while Thiruvambadi in Kozhikode district, Kalpetta, and Sulthan Bathery were severed to carve out the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency.
Surprisingly, Mr. Raghavan emerged victorious by 838 votes, defeating P.A. Mohamed Riyas in a direct fight between the Congress and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)]. The rest is history. In the 2014 polls, Mr. Raghavan fortified his mandate with a margin exceeding 16,000 votes against the CPI(M)‘s A. Vijayaraghavan. In 2019, he scored a hat-trick, securing a bigger margin of over 85,000 votes against popular CPI(M) legislator A. Pradeepkumar.
