For many candidates, familiarity with a majority of the voters in their constituency is something they wish for. But for C.K. Hareendran, the Left Democratic Front (LDF) candidate in Parassala, familiarity is what bothers him, having spent decades as a party worker.
“This is a vast constituency. I have been unable to reach all the corners of Parassala. I am trying my best to meet you all. Please don’t be angry with me if I have not,” he tells voters at the Paliyod junction.
The campaign vehicle is parked in front of the house in which he lived for many years, now the party committee office.
Walking on the streets, he calls most of the older voters by their names. “Standing here, old memories come rushing by. You all protected me from the police during the Emergency days,” he tells another group.
Farm sector
Mr. Hareendran raises a whole host of issues, from the lack of basic infrastructure to the price of farm produce. Near a rubber estate, his pilot speaker switches to the ASEAN deal, which he says has contributed to low prices for rubber.
Mr. Hareendran, a first-timer, is up against the sitting MLA, United Democratic Front’s A.T. George, a trade union leader. Near the Chamavila junction, Mr. George gets down from his vehicle and shakes hands with all, taking quick strides to meet the maximum number of voters.
His campaign is based on the developmental activities he has done in the constituency.
Title deeds
“The Kalippara drinking water project, which the people here have been waiting for decades, was commissioned. Title deeds were distributed in Anchuthengu. Computers were given to all government aided schools. I am confident of winning this time too,” he says.
Last time, he scraped through with a majority of just 505 votes. This time too, he admits, there has been some opposition within the party against his candidature. But those issues have been ironed out, he says.
No water
Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Karamana Jayan is betting on the growing vote share for his party in the constituency to upset the plans of the two fronts.
“In the beginning of the campaign, no one was speaking about the infrastructure issues here. It was the BJP which brought these to the forefront. The UDF candidate claims that the government has commissioned the Kalippara drinking water project. But no one is at present getting drinking water from this project. The situation in the tribal villages is pathetic, with no roads and no water,” says Mr. Jayan. His confidence comes from the gains made by the BJP in some parts of the constituency in the local body polls.
In Parassala constituency, which has the highest number of voters in the district at 2.08 lakh, it would be the caste equations that could prove the game changer.
The UDF is hoping for a decisive split in the Nair votes between the LDF and the BJP, with a large percentage of the Nadar votes coming to them. “I am not thinking along community lines. My votes are all Congress votes,” says Mr. George.
