THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With the last date to file the nomination papers for the assembly elections just a week away, the UDF and NDA are yet to finalise their candidates for Parassala constituency.The LDF has already announced the candidature of incumbent legislator C K Hareendran. The UDF camp is planning to field former district panchayat president Ansajitha Russel. Her candidature is almost confirmed and the official announcement is expected on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the NDA camp is confident of fielding BJP leader Karamana Jayan who had contested here in 2016 assembly elections. Following the delimitation process, Amboori, Ottasekharamangalam and Perumkadavila panchayats, which were earlier part of Neyyattinkara constituency, became part of Parassala constituency.In addition to these panchayats, Parassala, Vellarada, Aryancode, Kallikadu, Kollayil and Kunnathukal panchayats also form part of Parassala assembly constituency. Parassala, the largest constituency in the district, has also the highest number of voters.
The constituency has over 2 lakh voters. The selection of UDF candidate will be a critical factor here as the constituency has the history of electing both LDF and UDF candidates. In 2016 elections, UDF’s A T George lost to Hareendran by 18, 566 votes.Caste vote bank plays a crucial role in the elections here.
Though Nadar community votes formed the lion’s share earlier, Nadar, Nair and Ezhava communities in addition to tribal votes play a crucial role now as the boundaries of the constituency have changed. Though the LDF has an upper hand considering the resounding victory in the last LSG polls, UDF and the NDA also have good influence in some panchayats like Amboori, Ottasekharamangalam and Kallikadu.
Sitting MLA C K Hareendran chanted the development mantra as he took to social media to showcase various developmental projects, including the first and second reaches of the much-touted hill highway project which could give better connectivity to the hilly areas of the district. The development of the second reach is nearing completion while the tender for the first reach has been completed.In 2016, Hareendran got 70,156 votes and George secured 51,590 votes. Karamana Jayan came third with 33,028 votes.