Central Kerala is witnessing some exciting political contests as electioneering has entered the final phase in the State.
Stakes are high for political parties as well as candidates in the fray in the seven Lok Sabha constituencies falling under the central Kerala region. Issues ranging from alleged instances of ‘love jihad’ and the screening of controversial movie, The Kerala Story, on Doordarshan and later for catechism students by the Idukki diocese of the Syro-Malabar Church to human-wildlife conflicts and anti-incumbency factor have dominated the electioneering scene in the run-up to the polls.
Even while drawing all-round political criticism, the screening of The Kerala Story exposed deep division on the sensitive issue of alleged conversions through love marriages among various Christian denominations. Apart from political parties such as the Congress and the CPI (M), Latin Catholic and Marthoma churches too vociferously slammed the movie screening as they apprehended that such acts would destroy the social fabric of the State, besides endangering its secular credentials. The timing of the movie screening also came under fire. However, the Sangh Parivar affiliates were quick to support the Syro-Malabar Church and asserted that the movie reflected the current situation in Kerala. The Lok Sabha seats in central Kerala hold a special place for Bharath Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS), the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partner, as their candidates are in the fray in Kottayam, Idukki, Mavelikara and Chalakudy constituencies.
Key candidates
The Congress is going the extra mile to secure the popular mandate of its heavyweight candidates, especially All India Congress Committee general secretary K.C. Venugopal (Alappuzha), Kodikunnil Suresh (Mavelikara). The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is also pulling out all the stops for its candidate, Suresh Gopi, in Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency.
The CPI (M) is also keen to return A.M. Arif, the only party representative from Kerala in the outgoing House, to Lok Sabha from Alappuzha, where the BJP has projected its candidate Shobha Surendran as a future Union Minister to convince the voters.
The BJP has adopted a similar strategy in Thrissur for Mr. Gopi with a message to the voters that the Prime Minister hopes to see Mr. Gopi in the Lower House. Mr. Modi’s presence at the marriage of Mr. Gopi’s daughter and his frequent visits to the district were highlighted to convey the message that Mr. Gopi was Mr. Modi’s man Friday. Mr. Modi had also repeatedly raised the Karuvannur Service Cooperative Bank scam on a couple of occasions to attack CPI (M). However, Congress insiders believe that astute politician K. Muraleedharan would upset the hopes of LDF candidate V.S. Sunilkumar, and Mr. Gopi alike with a convincing margin. The controversies connected to the conduct of Thrissur Pooram also gave enough ammunition to the raging political debate in the constituency.
Venugopal’s RS seat
The poll outcome in Alappuzha and Thrissur constituencies would have wider political ramifications in the State. The decision of Mr. Venugopal, a Rajya Sabha member, to contest in the Lok Sabha polls came as a surprise as he may have to forgo the seat in the event of him winning the Alappuzha seat. The BJP, which was two seats short of the majority in the Upper House, could be the beneficiary of the decision as it could easily get one of its nominees elected from Rajasthan where the party had returned to power.
In Thrissur too, the Congress took the political risk of replacing its sitting MP T. N. Prathapan and shifting Mr. Muraleedharan from Vadakara to the constituency.
In Mavelikara, while Mr. Suresh, one of the longest serving Congress members in the Lok Sabha, hopes to cash in on the anti-government sentiments, C.A. Arunkumar, the young CPI leader, feels that anti-incumbency factor would work against Mr. Suresh.
Kottayam battle
It’s the battle between the Kerala Congress factions that has made the contest in Kottayam a politically interesting affair. Thomas Chazhikkadan, the Kerala Congress (M) candidate who won the 2019 election as a UDF candidate and his party boss Jose K. Mani would not settle for anything less than a convincing victory to reassure themselves and the Left Democratic Front (LDF) that their popular support remains intact.
This is the first election since Kerala Congress (M) moved over to the LDF. K. Francis George of Kerala Congress, who takes on Mr. Chazhikkadan, had been harping on the issue of cash crop prices and anti-incumbency factors, to convince the electorate. NDA’s Thushar Vellappally, who shifted from Wayanad to Kottayam, hopes that the Modi guarantee would do the magic for him. Minority votes matter most in Idukki, where the church plays a prominent role in deciding the poll outcome. It’s the third straight fight between LDF’s Joyce George, who won the seat in 2014 when the Church-backed High Range Samrakshana Samithy threw its weight behind him, against sitting MP and UDF candidate Dean Kuriakose. Issues related to the assignment of land for settler farmers, loss of life and property in human-wildlife conflicts have taken centre stage.
Meanwhile in Ernakulam, which the Congress considers as its citadel, LDF’s K.J. Shine is set to take on UDF’s Hibi Eden, a member of the outgoing Lok Sabha. The poll campaign in the constituency, where the BJP had brought in K.S. Radhakrishnan from Alappuzha where he contested last time, mostly veered around development issues.
Development issues also dominate the electoral scene in Chalakudy, where Congress strongman Benny Behanan hopes to repeat his performance and overcome the challenges posed by the CPI (M) candidate C. Raveendranath.
