The Congress and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), main constituents of the United Democratic Front will examine what went wrong during their campaign in Kozhikode district in the just concluded Assembly polls.
The coalition could win only two seats and that too both by the IUML out of the 13 seats. After humiliating defeats in the last two Assembly polls, the Congress leadership had hoped to recover the lost ground of the party. It had contested five seats including Kunnamangalam after swapping the Balussery segment with the IUML.
Kozhikode North, Koyilandy, Nadapuram and Beypore were the other seats the party contested. It failed to win any of these in 2006 and 2011 as well. Now it will go without any representation from the district for a third time in a row in the Assembly.
Many leaders have clandestinely sought the ouster of District Congress Committee president K.C. Abu, who was reprimanded by the Election Commission of India for inciting communal passion at an election rally in Beypore.
His statements not only alienated the traditional Congress voters of the Hindu community but also failed to yield the desired result from the Muslim community. This was reflected in the decline of the party’s vote share in Kozhikode North and Beypore.
At the same time, BJP increased its presence in a big way in both these constituencies. Likewise, Congress nominee T. Siddique did not get a section of Sunni votes in Kunnamangalam.
The only solace was that the party had been able to put up a determined fight in this constituency as well as Nadapuram.
In the IUML camp, the party has not yet grasped the defeat in its bastion, Koduvally to a rebel candidate supported by the LDF.
The situation is similar when a former rebel leader P.T.A.Rahim walked away with the seat in 2006. Then he had defeated K. Muraleedharan, then of the defunct DIC (K) that had an alliance with the UDF in a communally polarised electioneering.
Likewise the IUML leadership failed to gauge the undercurrents in form of a Muslim – Christian polarisation at Thiruvamabi segment.
The Mayalora Vikasana Samiti- backed by the Thamarassery Diocese wanted a Congress candidate (Christian settler farmer) as candidate. George M. Thomas of the CPI (M) won this seat, giving a sense of déjà vu of the 2006 polls when Mathai Chacko (CPI-M) defeated IUML strongman M.C. Mayin Haji.
Leaders want ouster of DCC chief K. C. Abu
BJP vote share rises in Kozhikode North, Beypore
