KOCHI: Political observers in the state will be monitoring the polls in Kalamassery, one of the newly-formed constituencies after the last round of delimitation process.
Known as the industrial hub of Ernakulam district, Kalamassery has been made into a constituency by merging places under Kalamassery municipality, Eloor municipality and Alangad, Kadungalloor, Kunnukara and Karumallur panchayats. Apart from adding many places from Aluva and Paravoor constituencies, the entire Vadakekkara constituency was also merged with the Kalamassery constituency. It was during the Thiru Kochi Assembly election in 1951 that a constituency called Alangad came into existence. The newly-formed Kalamassery constituency covers almost all the regions in the erstwhile Alangad constituency.
In 1951, in a threecornered fight, independent candidate E P Varghese won from the constituency after defeating Socialist Balakrishna Menon and Madhavan of the Congress. Kalamassery Assembly constituency came into being in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls.
Kalamassery, which is part of Ernakulam Lok Sabha constituency, registered a polling of 75.28 percent in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls.
Of the 1,48,739 voters, 1,11,977 voters cast their votes. At present, the total number of voters in Kalamassery constituency is 1,62,758. Though the LDF managed to get a lead in Kalamassery constituency in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, the Kalamassery and Eloor municipalities and the majority of panchayats in the constituency voted in favour of the UDF in the last local body elections.