With the electorate becoming more development conscious, leaders of political parties have realised that there is no short cut to success in electoral battles.
Legislators who are running for a second or third term might have learnt the hard lessons of making development a poll plank especially, if they have won or lost by a whisker in any election. IUML leader M.K. Muneer, the lone Minister from Kozhikode, knows this well after his humiliating defeat at Mankada in Malappuram district, along with his party stalwarts in the 2006 Assembly polls.
Last time, he won from Kozhikode South, previously known as Calicut-II, by a small margin of 1,346 votes. But, unlike his previous years as an MLA, Dr. Muneer has nurtured the constituency, lying in the Kozhikode Corporation limits, to some extent.
Historically, the segment has had never shown a steadfast loyalty to either the UDF or the LDF. Today he is heavily banking on the development initiatives, including roads and bridges and numerous welfare schemes.
The 53-year-old son of former Chief Minister C.H. Mohammed Koya is also a singer, poet, social worker, and author of several books, and this possibly strikes a chord with people from different walks of life. His confidence stems from the 2014 Lok Sabha poll results that gave Congress candidate M.K. Raghavan a lead of over 5,000 votes in the segment.
However, the political preferences of the constituency have remained yoked to the “anti-incumbency” against the ruling coalition of the time in the State. That is what keeps his key opponent A.P. Abdul Wahab of the INL, a breakaway group of the IUML, in high spirits about the election this time.
In the 2006 polls, LDF-supported candidate P.M.A. Salam won in the straight fight between the IUML and INL. Prof. Wahab, who is the party State general secretary, had previously unsuccessfully contested from Tirur and Manjeri Assembly segments. The well-oiled machinery of the CPI(M) is aiding him in his campaigns.
The BJP-led NDA alliance has fielded Satheesh Kuttiyil of the BDJS. He is also president of the SNDP Yogam Chevayur unit and vice president of the Kerala Film Exhibitors Federation. In the 2011 election, the BJP polled 7,512 votes, but in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the party increased its share to 14,155.
