As Wayanad prepares to host the Navakerala Sadas on Thursday, the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) is pinning hopes on the State government’s public outreach programme to strike a better chord with the people in the hill district.
Wayanad, the only minority district in Kerala as categorised by the Union government, has proven politically elusive for Left parties since Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s electoral foray into the Lok Sabha constituency in 2019.
The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) has the upper hand in the constituency, covering the entire Wayanad district, three Assembly segments in Malappuram district, and a single segment in Kozhikode district since its inception in 2009. However, its candidate, the late M.I. Shanavas, who secured a victory with a margin of over 1.5 lakh votes in the initial run, witnessed a depletion in vote share, with a victory margin of over 20,000 votes in the 2014 polls.
