Flaunting 16 constituencies, which will roughly make up one-ninth of Kerala Assembly, Malappuram district is poised to have a clear say in defining the future government. A traditional stronghold of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), the district is witnessing a fierce fight between the United Democratic Front (UDF) and the Left Democratic Front (LDF).
Gone are the days when elections used to be a perfunctory business for voters and political parties in Malappuram. Realising the change, both fronts and smaller parties are approaching the district’s 30.33 lakh voters with caution and respect.
The LDF has devised strategies to repeat the results of 2006, when it wrested five seats in the district by toppling such IUML heavyweights as P.K. Kunhalikutty, E.T. Mohammed Basheer, and M.K. Muneer. Since then, the IUML has not lost a seat in the district.
This time, the LDF has roped in independent candidates with solid financial background to take on the UDF in constituencies such as Tanur, Tirur, Tirurangadi, Nilambur, Eranad, and Kondotty. In Mankada and Kottakkal, the LDF has influential candidates contesting on their respective party symbols. With careful planning backed by Left party machinery and outsourced professional expertise, the LDF candidates are making a ripple in their constituencies.
The UDF, on the other hand, is banking on the traditional vote soliciting system by heavily deploying party machinery at the grass-roots level. It needs to be seen whether the waves created by the LDF’s rich candidates in their constituencies, particularly amongst the youth, are skin-deep or not.
The UDF does not harbour high hopes to recapture Ponnani and Tavanur from the LDF. Congress’s P.T. Ajaymohan and Ifthiqaruddin are giving a good fight to LDF’s sitting MLAs P. Sreeramakrishnan and K.T. Jaleel in Ponnani and Tavanur respectively.
It is battle royale in Tanur, where LDF independent V. Abdurahiman is on an all-out fight against IUML’s sitting MLA Abdurahman Randathani. This-time-or-never is the motto of the LDF in Tanur, where the IUML lead dipped considerably in the last two decades. The race in Tanur is neck and neck.
Both fronts are locked in a tough fight in Perinthalmanna, Mankada, Kondotty, Tirur, Eranad, and Nilambur. In Manjeri, Wandoor, Malappuram, Vengara, Tirurangadi, Kottakkal, and Vallikkunnu, the UDF does not see any major worries. When the UDF is seeking votes for continuation of development, the LDF is raising issues of corruption, nepotism, and communalism.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Welfare Party of India (WPI), the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) too are in the fray in most constituencies. The SDPI has fielded candidates in 15 constituencies when its ally Samajwadi Party (SP) has a candidate in Eranad.
The BJP is contesting in 15 constituencies when its ally Bharat Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS) has a candidate in Nilambur. Having an average vote-share of five to six per cent, the BJP is out to improve its position in the district.
The WPI has candidates in 12 constituencies. It is yet to announce its stand in Kottakkal, Eranad, Nilambur, and Vallikkunnu. The PDP has candidates in all constituencies but Nilambur.
