t has been a long wait for the Left Democratic Front (LDF) to recapture its old fortress Varkala from the United Democratic Front (UDF) after Congress candidate Varkala Kahar won the seat in the 2001 Assembly election.
Riding high on an impressive performance in the last local body elections, winning the Varkala municipality and six of the seven grama panchayats and the lone block panchayat that fall in the constituency, the LDF sees a reversal of its fortunes in the Assembly election. The CPI(M)-led LDF is likely to field sitting member of the district panchayat V. Joyi against Mr. Kahar, who won the seat in the last election defeating CPI(M) nominee A.A Rahim by a margin of 10,710 votes.
Mr. Kahar, who commenced electioneering before the official announcement, hopes to retain the seat on the goodwill he generated over the development works initiated during the last 15 years. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has been making inroads into Varkala, has allotted the seat to the Bharat Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS). The BJP’s vote in the constituency went up to 10,000 in the last Lok Sabha election, compared to 7,000 votes the party candidate Elakamon Sathesan garnered in the 2011 Assembly election. The party has allotted the seat to the BDJS considering the sizeable Ezhava votes in the constituency, which includes Sivagiri, the birth place of social reformer Sree Narayana Guru. The BDJS has fielded SNDP union member S.R Aji.
