THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In Vattiyoorkavu, electoral loyalty has never been set in stone. Carved out as an assembly constituency post the 2008 delimitation, this seat in Thiruvananthapuram has since evolved into a political swing zone, where voters have consistently re-evaluated their choices in tune with changing political moods and emerging power equations.
In the 2011 assembly election in the newly-formed constituency, Congress heavyweight K Muraleedharan emerged victorious, securing over 50% of the votes polled. However, the 2014 Lok Sabha election was a landmark in Vattiyoorkavu’s political trajectory. The BJP-led NDA’s vote share saw a phenomenal three-fold increase, from 11.98% in 2011 to 37.05%, and O Rajagopal took pole position in the assembly segment, signalling the BJP’s growing footprint in the constituency.
In the 2016 assembly election, Vattiyoorkavu swung back to the UDF, bucking the statewide LDF wave.
Though Muraleedharan retained the seat, his vote share dropped by nearly 13%, even as the NDA finished second. The assembly segment again backed the UDF in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, with the NDA narrowly missing pole position by around 3,000 votes.
The inflection point came in the 2019 bypoll, necessitated by Muraleedharan vacating the seat after being elected to the Lok Sabha from Vadakara. LDF’s V K Prasanth wrested Vattiyoorkavu, pushing the NDA to third place. In 2021, Prasanth was re-elected amid an LDF resurgence, with the NDA bouncing back to second position. The 2024 Lok Sabha election saw Vattiyoorkavu once again tilting heavily in favour of the NDA that recorded its highest ever vote share of 41.7% in the assembly segment.
The 2025 local body elections signalled a UDF resurgence in Vattiyoorkavu, with the Congress-led front matching the NDA ward for ward in the corporation. The LDF lagged far behind owing to a strong anti-incumbency wave.
According to sources, the LDF is likely to field Prasanth again, while Muraleedharan is set for a third showdown from the UDF camp. The BJP, meanwhile, is weighing an established vote-puller, with former state president K Surendran’s name emerging strongly in preliminary discussions.
Sitting MLA Prasanth said the LDF will foreground the Rs 1,500-crore worth of development projects in the campaign.
“The Peroorkada flyover project, redevelopment of Vattiyoorkavu Junction, and the widening of key road stretches will be major vote drivers for the LDF,” he said.
The NDA sees its capture of the Thiruvananthapuram corporation as a springboard to winning Vattiyoorkavu. With 25 corporation wards falling within the constituency, voters here will be direct beneficiaries of development projects to be announced soon by the prime minister, said BJP state vice-president K Soman, who oversees the seat. The UDF believes fielding a war-horse like Muraleedharan will further sharpen its edge.
“A two-time MLA from Vattiyoorkavu, Muraleedharan has been nurturing the constituency and played a key role in the UDF’s strong showing in the corporation,” said G S Babu, former KPCC general secretary.
The constituency has a sizeable Nair voter base, followed by Christians and Ezhavas. Though classified as fully urban, several wards that merged into the corporation in 2010 continue to grapple with infrastructure gaps, standing in sharp contrast to the affluent neighbourhoods in the heart of the state capital.