THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The battle in the Parassala constituency is between two leaders who are very popular in the area.
The fact that both LDF candidate Anavoor Nagappan of the CPM and UDF candidate A T George of the Congress are equally popular among the electorate makes predictions very difficult.
The present Parassala constituency, after delimitation, has six panchayats which belonged to the Neyyattinkara constituency and three which were part of the constituency previously.
Of the nine panchayats, five are ruled by the LDF and four by the UDF. Among the panchayats, Kunnathukal and Kollayil are LDF strongholds. On the other hand, UDF is strong in Vellarada and Parassala panchayats. The majority the UDF and LDF candidates get in their strongholds would be crucial in deciding the winner. In other panchayats, whichever Front gets the majority, it will be too thin to be decisive.
However, both the candidates are facing stiff opposition from their own camps, especially in panchayats where the respective fronts have the upper hand. The decision to shift sitting MLA R Selvaraj to the neighbouring Neyyattinkara constituency has led to an uneasy situation for the CPM. The selection of George by overlooking many other contenders has also not gone down well with the Congress.
In other words, the candidate who is able to contain the unrest would surely have an advantage over the other.
One of the advantages Nagappan has is his works in the fields of agricultural and rural development. Nagappan is familiar with the issues relating to these sectors as he was the vice-president of the Kunnathukal grama panchayat.
Like Nagappan, George is also aware of the local political climate as he had served as the member and Opposition leader in the Parassala grama panchayat. He is now a member of the District Panchayat from Parassala for the second consecutive term.
Nagappan told ‘Express’ that he was confident of victory as the people of the area were very much aware of the development activities undertaken in Parassala and Neyyattinkara constituencies during the past five years.
The various welfare measures initiated by the LDF Government would also help the Front, he said.
However, the UDF camp is not ready to accept this argument.
George said that he could see a pro-UDF wave in the constituency. The LDF Government had failed on all fronts. The government could only distribute three kg of rice at Rs two-a-kg before the Supreme Court stayed the scheme. The voters have also realised that the health insurance scheme was actually a Central Government scheme and not a State Government one.
The BJP has fielded district secretary S Suresh to take on both the Fronts.
