MALAPPURAM: At a time when election campaigns vanish as quickly as they appear, one slogan has refused to fade. It was not painted for today’s voters, nor crafted for a trending hashtag. It briefly appeared on a wall in a cinema frame nearly four decades ago. Yet, it has now returned with uncanny relevance.
In the Malayalam classic 'Mela', directed by K G George, a seemingly ordinary piece of graffiti slips into the background of a village scene. As the character Raghu walks through his village road, the wall says: “Vote for A K Saseendran in the symbol of the spinning wheel.”
Back then, it was just cinema trying to mirror life. Today, life is mirroring cinema.
A K Saseendran, now 80 and the current forest minister, is once again in the electoral fray, contesting as an LDF candidate. The man whose name once lived quietly on a film location wall is still asking for votes, still on the ballot, still in the game.
His journey began in 1980, the very year Mela reached cinemas. Contesting from the now-defunct Peringalam constituency in Kannur under the spinning wheel symbol of Congress U, Saseendran scripted his first victory with a margin of 5,890 votes. It was a turbulent election year, marked by the fierce political duel between E K Nayanar and K Karunakaran, and by deep fractures within the Congress.
The Left alliance, with Congress U among its ranks, swept to power with 98 seats.
Somewhere in Vallayi, where 'Mela' was shot, art quietly documented that political moment – a wall, a name, a symbol. None imagined that the man in that painted appeal would still be contesting elections in 2026, now part of the NCP.
Saseendran’s political story since then has been anything but linear. Victories, defeats, comebacks, and even controversy have marked his path. From Edakkad to Kannur, from a 15-year political pause to a striking return in 2006 from Balussery, he has moved with persistence that borders on stubbornness. When Balussery turned a reserved seat, he shifted to Elathur and made it his stronghold, steadily increasing his victory margins in 2011, 2016, and 2021. Even a resignation in 2017 over a phone call controversy did little to dent his electoral appeal. In Elathur, voters stayed with him.
Now, as he seeks a ninth term, the old graffiti from 'Mela' has found new life on social media. Cinema groups, election discussions, nostalgic threads... it is everywhere. Not because it is dramatic, but because it feels impossible. A campaign message written for an election in 1980 is still, in spirit, alive.