Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during the election campaign of UDF Vypeen assembly candidate Deepak Joy in Vypeen, Kochi. (Photo | Albin Mathew, EPS)
PALAKKAD: The paddy labour force and the party’s organisational strength may help LDF in Palakkad this time too. However, UDF, which won three out of 12 seats last time, may be able to improve its tally by one or two seats.Palakkad, Pattambi and Thrithala would be the keenly-watched constituencies in this election.
The utterances of Metroman E Sreedharan, the NDA candidate in Palakkad, against the alleged anti-development mindset of LDF ministers, especially Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, has not gone down well by CPM’s micro-managers.
However, the fielding of C P Pramod, a lightweight, by CPM may send mixed signals to the cadre.
In Thrithala, CPM has fielded M B Rajesh to wrest the seat from V T Balram, who has consolidated his position here. The recent controversy over his wife’s appointment in Kalady Sanskrit University, especially at a time when thousands of PSC rank-holder are waiting for appointments, also proved a dampener for Rajesh,
“LDF has a clear edge in the district due to its organisational strength. However, in Ottappalam, UDF has fielded Dr P Sarin, who resigned from his civil services job, which could help him get apolitical votes. If he can give notices in all households and voter slips, he can become another Remya Haridas,” said S Rajasekharan Nair, retired professor of VTB College, Sreekrishnapuram.
Congress workers in the district are unhappy with the way IUML has been claiming seats where the grand old party has an upper hand. “Why is the League not asking for Tarur, but instead wants Kongad where UDF fared well in the local body polls? It does not want Ottappalam or Shoranur, but Pattambi which was held by Congress’ C P Mohammed from 2001 to 2011.
Finally, League got Kongad and fielded its nominee from Malappuram Riyaz Mukkoli of Congress in Pattambi. The Congress district leadership should address these issues if the party is to be strengthened”, said an analyst. Meanwhile, Riyaz, a late entrant, has kicked off his campaign vigorously and there are chances that sitting MLA Muhammed Muhsin may feel the heat.
In Shoranur, an LDF bastion, UDF has fielded T H Feroze Babu, the Youth Congress district president, to take on CPM’s P Mammykuty, 68. Sandeep Warrier, a familiar face of BJP is also actively campaigning here. Malampuzha is another keenly-watched seat. Here, V S Achuthanandanm who represented the constituency since 2001, will be missing this time.CITU leader A Prabhakaran is the LDF candidate here, while BJP state general secretary C Krishnakumar, last year’s runner-up, is the NDA candidate.
