A tight electoral fight is on the cards in the Thiruvalla Assembly segment, which has traditionally been regarded as a United Democratic Front bastion.
However, it is also a fact that the constituency had voted out UDF candidates whenever the front witnessed rebel menace.
Annexing of five pro-UDF grama panchayats of Anicaud, Mallappally, Kallooppara, Puramattom and Kunnamthanam has strengthened the UDF character of the Thiruvalla constituency. Thiruvalla municipality and 10 of the 11 grama panchayats in the reconstituted Thiruvalla Assembly segment are controlled by the UDF.
“Voters here are wise enough to cleverly conceal their political decisions and leanings. For that reason itself it is hard to make any pre-poll prediction on the electoral prospects of the key contestants in the constituency,” a poll analyst said.
The Assembly segment houses the rice bowl of upper Kuttanad, plantation belt of Mallappally and parts of the Pampa-Manimala river basins.
1.93 lakh voters
Of the 1,93,952 voters in the constituency, 1,02,934 are women, 90,225 men, 715 service voters and 78 non-resident Keralites.
Mathew T.Thomas of the Janata Dal(S), Victor T.Thomas of the Kerala Congress (M) and Rajan Mooleveettil of the Bharatiya Janata Party are the main contestants in Thiruvalla.
Mathew T.Thomas has won the constituency in 2006 defeating Victor T.Thomas of the Kerala Congress(M), when the latter faced a party rebel, Sam Eapen. The KC(M) rebel polled 14,633 votes, with Mr. Thomas emerging victorious by a margin of 8,922 votes.
The earlier victory of Mr. Thomas in 1987 too was when the KC(M) had witnessed a rebel menace.
The LDF has launched a systematic election campaign. Though the delayed start had resulted in certain shortcomings in the campaign of the UDF candidate, the KC(M) election machinery has succeeded to a great extent in reaching the candidate's profile to the grassroots.
The sitting MLA has been projecting a positive line-up of development schemes, the multi-crore modern KSRTC bus terminal, roads, bridges, smooth public transport facility across the constituency, he had initiated in the past five years in his election campaign. The ‘non-corrupt, gentleman' image during his tenure as the Transport Minister has proved to be a great asset for him during the poll campaign.
Mr. Victor T.Thomas has taken every effort to win the elections. He is a confidant of the party leader K.M. Mani and a very good organiser.
There were certain rumblings in the KC(M) over denial of party ticket to Joseph M.Puthussery, sitting MLA of Kallooppara constituency, which has ceased to exist following delimitation and parts of which has been annexed to Thiruvalla. However, the UDF could launch a united poll campaign in Thiruvalla.
Puthussery's absence
Mr. Puthusserry's absence on the campaign front and the studied silence of certain UDF quarters at Mallappally, Kallooppara, Anicaud, Kunnamthanam and Puramattom panchayats are a matter of concern for the UDF.
BJP candidate Rajan Mooleveettil too has launched a systematic election campaign. The BJP candidate says that the party is expected to get a sizable share of votes. The BJP had secured 14,633 votes in the Assembly segment in the local body polls in 2010.
Anto Antony of the Congress had registered a hefty lead over his LDF rival K.Ananthagopan of the CPI(M) in the Thiruvalla Assembly segment in the Lok Sabha elections in 2009.
