Veteran trade unionist O. Bharathan was the first candidate of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] to get elected as a Lok Sabha MP from Vadakara, in 1996. This time, the challenge before K.K. Shailaja, Left Democratic Front (LDF) nominee and senior CPI(M) leader, is to reclaim the seat that was once held only by socialists, those with socialist leanings, and Marxists, till the Congress wrested it in 2009.
The results of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls will indicate if the political reasons that led to Vadakara slip through the LDF’s hold then are relevant even now. The United Democratic Front (UDF) has fielded Shafi Parambil, its Palakkad MLA, against Ms. Shailaja, who is also the legislator for Mattannur, and a popular Health Minister in the first Pinarayi Vijayan government. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate is C.R. Praphul Krishnan, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha State president.
The formation of the Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP) in 2008 by CPI(M) rebel leader T.P. Chandrasekharan; the breaking away of a Janata Dal faction led by M.P. Veerendra Kumar in 2009; the murder of Chandrasekharan in 2012 by assassins allegedly backed by the CPI(M); and that party’s role in political violence are some of the reasons cited for the defeat of LDF candidates. While it was senior Congress leader Mullappally Ramachandran who won from here in 2009 and 2014, K. Muraleedharan, then Vattiyurkkavu MLA, retained the seat by defeating P. Jayarajan of the CPI(M) in 2019. The RMP had fielded its candidates in 2009 (Chandrasekharan) and 2014 (P. Kumaran Kutty) from here, but the party offered support to the UDF in 2019. The RMP continues to support the UDF. Though Mr. Muraleedharan was expected to seek another term this time, the Congress surprisingly chose Mr. Parambil at the last minute, while shifting the former to Thrissur.
