For an average Hindu, the presence of the famed Sree Krishna Temple makes Guruvayur a holy town. The temple attracts around 25 lakh pilgrim-tourists annually from within Kerala and nearby states, although the assembly constituency is dominated by Muslims.
The absence of a BJP candidate in Guruvayur is expected to leave the hardcore Hindu voters in the constituency in a quandary. That it could not field a candidate in Kerala's holy town is also a serious setback for the party's state unit at a time when it has been using Sabarimala as a major poll plank.
A senior BJP leader said, "The party was exposed in Guruvayur as there was no other independent candidate for the BJP to extend support to in the absence of its own candidate. Party workers will have to either vote for IUML candidate KNA Khader or CPM candidate NK Akbar. As a responsible party, the BJP can't ask its rank and file to vote for NOTA. Now, party workers can vote according to their will," he said.
Traditionally, the constituency has been represented either by the IUML or the CPM. In 2016, the BJP polled over 25,000 votes when the victory margin of CPM's KV Abdul Khader was 15,098. The constituency has been witnessing contests between candidates from the Muslim community right from its inception as the coastal regions of Guruvayur and Chavakkad have a large Muslim population. It is the only constituency allotted to the IUML by the UDF in the state's cultural capital.
In the past, the Guruvayur constituency was a UDF stronghold, particularly of the IUML. The constituency had sent IUML leaders like BV Seethi Thangal, PKK Bava, and PM Abubacker to the assembly. The CPM tightened its grip in the constituency in 1994 as the then IUML MLA -- P M Abubacker -- left the party following a split, necessitating a bypoll.
In the ensuing election, filmmaker PT Kunjumuhammed, fielded by the LDF as an independent, broke the jinx. He retained the seat in the 1996 elections by defeating RP Moidutty of IUML by a narrow margin of 2,836 votes. However, the IUML wrested the seat in 2001 by pitting PKK Bava against Kunjumuhammed and won the seat by a margin of 9,526 votes.
But the CPM was not ready to back out from the race and claimed the seat in 2006, 2011 and 2016. KV Abdul Khader defeated CH Rasheed, Asharaf Kokkur and PM Sadiq Ali of the IUML - the victory margin being 12309, 9968 and 15098 votes respectively.
INFO BOX
2016 assembly election:
KV Abdul Khader (CPM) 66088 votes
M Sadiq Ali (IUML) 50990 votes
Victory margin 15,098 votes
Nivedita (BJP) 25,490 votes
(BJP had polled 9,306 votes in 2011)