Traditionally, pollsters consider Ernakulam Parliamentary constituency as a Congress citadel. The political history of the constituency since the formation of the State of Kerala would validate the theory as Congress candidates had romped home 13 times against the seven of Left Democratic Front (LDF).
The LDF posted its first victory in 1967 when CPI (M) leader V. Viswanatha Menon got elected from here. Later, it required the two LDF-backed independents, Xavier Arakkal, a former Congress legislator who parted ways with the party, and Sebastian Paul, to stop the Congress juggernaut. Incidentally, it was two decades ago in 2004 that Mr. Paul posted an electoral victory here.
The constituency also elected a father and a son to the Lower House. George Eden, the father of the incumbent Parliament member Hibi Eden, was elected to the lower house in 1998 and later in 1999. Junior Eden’s first foray into the parliament was in 2019 when he defeated P. Rajeeve of the CPI (M). He was the Ernakulam MLA when the party decided to field him in the Parliament election
