
KOCHI: In the local body polls, some candidates are taking time off their schedule for campaigning. Some, however, are doing it while they work. T E Noushad, 40, is in the second category. For him, selling fish is his livelihood. And when CPM asked him to contest the polls from Painavu, ward 12 of Vazhathope grama panchayat in Idukki, Noushad thought of using his familiarity with residents as a fish vendor to seek votes. Now, he is using his daily fish sales to communicate with voters, for understanding their issues and for urging them to vote for him.
A first-timer in the local body polls, Noushad, who is the Cheruthoni branch secretary of CPM, is confident of winning as Painavu ward is a sitting seat of the party in the grama panchayat, which is often considered a UDF bastion. The partnership with Jose K Mani-led KC(M), which won four seats in the 14-member local body in 2015 polls, has scaled up LDF’s prospects this time.
“I campaign during work from morning to evening. I run a small shop at Painavu town and sell fish in a goods autorickshaw in the area. So, I am very familiar to voters. I have been selling fish for 20 years,” said Noushad, who also served in the director board of Vazhathope Service Cooperative Bank. With electioneering gaining momentum, Noushad’s younger son, a Class 10 student, manages the shop in the morning. Painavu ward is witnessing a tough battle with UDF and NDA candidates also campaigning actively to wrest the ward from CPM.