Aruvikkara No Cake Walk for LDF, UDF Contestants

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: CPM district secretariat’s decision to propose the name of veteran leader M Vijayakumar as its candidate for Aruvikkara Assembly byelection  reflects its resolve to win the election at any cost. By fielding a seasoned politician like Vijayakumar who is the pleasant face of the CPM in the state capital, the party has already made a leap forward.

The candidature of Vijayakumar at Aruvikkara is  important for the CPM in particular and LDF in general. It is equally important for CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan as it is the first major fight the party is undertaking under his leadership since he came to the helm of affairs of the party in the state.

For politburo member and former state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan also has much at stake as he is likely to be given the charge of the elections. By fielding Vijayakumar, CPM hopes to rope in Opposition leader VS Achuthanandan who is at loggerheads with the Party leadership also to the campaign front.

The UDF is pinning hope on fielding M T Sulekha, the widow of G Karthikeyan. The UDF leadership is hopeful of her yielding to the pressure to contest once the Party High command asks her to do so. Till the other day, the Congress has been of the  view that it will be a cakewalk for the UDF if it could field Sulekha. Now with leaders like R Balakrishna Pillai joining the LDF-fold and P C George fielding his own candidate with the support of Nadar community it will not be a cakewalk for the UDF.

The BJP which had made creditable performance in the  last 2014 Lok Sabha elections also has much at stake. So far there has been a thinking that it should focus on the local body elections to emerge winners in the Thiruvananthapuram corporation. But the State leadership feels that to maintain the tempo of its performance in the Lok sabha elections it should  pay more attention in the byelection.

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