Scams, controversies, and political issues at the national and State level are all in the air, but what dominates the campaign scene in the Kollam Lok Sabha constituency is the ‘RSP factor,’ the reference being to the decision of the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) to switch sides on election eve. Therefore, what Kollam witnesses is essentially a straight contest between United Democratic Front (UDF) candidate N.K. Premachandran and Left Democratic Front (LDF) nominee and CPI(M) Polit Bureau member M.A. Baby.
When RSP is the main talking point, the oft-heard word cannot but be ‘betrayal’ — the LDF accusing the RSP of having betrayed the Opposition alliance by walking out of it and the RSP and Congress accusing the CPI(M) of having betrayed the trust that RSP had reposed in it to protect its interests as an Opposition alliance partner.
Even Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s P.M. Velayudhan has found in it an apt theme to highlight how undependable the two alliances and their constituents are.
The RSP factor has eclipsed the ‘solar scam,’ but there are indications that the K. Kasturirangan issue is poised to influence voters in the highranges of Punalur assembly segment which has ecologically sensitive areas demarcated by the K. Kasturirangan committee. Both the alliances have, more or less, similar positions on the issue and the BJP is in favour of the Gadgil Committee report. Hence, the voter behaviour in the Punalur Assembly segment may have to be watched keenly.
Both Mr. Premachandran and Mr. Baby began their rounds of the cashew factories from the southern-most Chathannur Assembly segment. Cashew workers, who constitute the single major deciding factor in Kollam, appear a confused lot as they are asked to pick between Mr. Baby and Mr. Premachandran and it might boil down to personal preferences taking precedence over political positions when votes are cast on April 10.
Though Mr. Premachandran had represented the Kollam constituency twice in the Lok Sabha, it was the first time he approached voters in Punalur.
This is because the Punalur and Chadayamangalam segments came under the Kollam Lok Sabha constituency only from 2009. Punalur is seen as an LDF stronghold and here Mr. Baby’s main campaign plank is the State government’s failure to protect the interests of the farmers. All over the segments, Mr. Baby gets a rousing reception from plantation workers, mostly owing allegiance to the Left trade unions. But Mr. Premachandran has, over the past few days, proved that he is not one to give up all that easily. The LDF is, by all accounts, on a safe wicket in Kundara, both because Mr. Baby hails from here and has been representing since 2006 in the Assembly. The CPI(M) leader has deep roots in the constituency and the LDF campaign here is centred on Mr. Baby’s contribution to the constituency’s development. But, exactly the opposite is the case with Chavara, identified closely with the RSP movement, where coming together of the RSP and RSP(B), led by Labour Minister Shibu Baby John, has triggered some favourable winds. A mechanised fishing boat owner from the segment, who did not wish to be named, said “UDF’s chances in the segment have brightened the RSP and the RSP(B) bonhomie.”
Eravipuram factorBut the Assembly segment that both the fronts are focusing on is Eravipuram with its many cashew factories because it is represented in the Assembly by none other than the RSP State secretary A.A. Azeez. When speaking to voters here, the normally affable Mr. Baby is at his stinging best. At Eravipuram, the contest is between the CPI(M) and the RSP than between the UDF and the LDF. Both sides are seriously aware of the fact that Kollam is a swing segment.
The segment has a strong fishing community which is generally supportive of the LDF. Ambivalence is the name of the game as could be read from what fishworker Alby says, “both sides should ponder over the question why the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is emerging as an attractive option to the youngsters among the fisher folk as well.”
