As campaigning reaches its final days, the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the Varkala constituency have pulled their socks up to deny battled-hardened Congress candidate Varkala Kahar a fourth chance in the May 16 Assembly polls.
Sensing that the rules of electoral game have changed fast in the last few days, Mr. Kahar is leaving no stone unturned by trying to hard sell the development initiatives before the voters during his whirlwind tour of the constituency.
In Varkala, the contest this time has been queered by the entry of the new player, the Bharat Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS), a constituent of NDA, which has made deep inroads into the traditional vote bank of Congress and the LDF.
Old timers in the constituency, who have observed electoral contests from close quarters, are of the opinion that the outcome will depend on how Nair votes, which have become sizeable after the merger of Pallikkal, Madavoor and Navaikulam panchayats with Varkala, swing in the election. The LDF has fielded sitting member of the district panchayat V. Joy, who belongs to the Ezhava community and the BDJS has put to fray S.R.M. Aji, a long-time union member of Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam. “The Ezhava votes, which was traditionally with the Left parties, will in all probability get divided between the LDF and the BDJS candidates, making the Nair votes crucial in this election,” said a voter in Varkala.
However, Mr. Kahar, who won the seat in the last election defeating CPI (M) nominee A.A. Rahim by a margin of 10,710 votes, puts a brave front on his fortunes. “It’s true that the BDJS will eat into our vote as well as of the LDF. The damage will be more to the Left than to the Congress. Anyway it is not going to create much impact, as people are going to judge me on the work I did in the constituency for the last 15 years,” he told The Hindu . His campaign managers are also hopeful of consolidation of Muslim votes.
Nevertheless, both Mr. Joy and Mr. Aji, throughout their campaign trail, have used every opportunity to demolish the “development card,” of the Congress candidate. “The fruits of development reached to only one family in Varkala. He has failed to create jobs or tap the tourism potential of Varkala. The claims made by Kahar are hollow,” Mr. Joyi said.
Toeing a similar line, Mr. Aji said Kahar’s idea of development was “constructing a few roads and high-mast lights” while he failed to address the basic necessities of people, including providing clean drinking water. “If you go around the constituency, one could only hear complaints about jobs and lack of drinking water,” Mr. Aji said.
