For the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), the Kasaragod Assembly segment is considered to be a safe seat, going by its winning streak in all the eight elections since 1980.
The segment having the municipality and seven other panchayats, indeed has sizeable Muslim population. The IUML will field sitting MLA N.A. Nellikunnu for a second term. In sharp contrast to the traditional UDF-LDF straight fight in many other Assembly constituencies, the previous elections had also showed that the BJP had been posing a threat to the IUML base, as one of the constituencies from which it has been eyeing to open its account in the State Assembly.
In 2011 Assembly poll, Mr. Nellikunnu remained in the second spot after BJP until the votes polled in the Muslim-dominated Chengala panchayat was taken up for counting and the IUML eventually won with 9,738 votes. The UDF, however, increased its tally polling 54,426 votes against the BJP’s 41,236 in the 2014 Lok Sabha poll.
The UDF again managed to showcase an edge by polling 57,202 votes followed by BJP’s 41,804 in the 2015 local bodies poll.
The fight this time could turn unpredictable. The unresolved drinking water shortage in the municipal area and the inability to fulfil the demand to build a check-dam at Bavikkara to prevent the entry of saline water through river Chandragiri, have been major election issues here. The slow-paced implementation of many a developmental projects, including the government medical college at Badiyadukka, has apparently dejected the electorate.
