Unlike the clean sweep by the Kerala Congress (M) last time, Kaduthuruthy is set to witness a pitched battle in this election, thanks to a split in the regional party.
A pocket borough of Kerala Congress politics for long, the region has now become the arena for a direct fight between Mons Joseph and Stephen George, prominent faces from the respective KC groups led by P.J. Joseph and Jose K. Mani. Besides the regional political heavyweights, the National Democratic Alliance too has thrown its hat in the ring by fielding a fresh face, Lijin Lal of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Mons Joseph, a former Minister who has been representing the seat from 2006 onward, seeks to improve on his previous margin of 42,256 votes. A popular face across the region, he counts on the upper hand that the United Democratic Front enjoys among the farmers and Hindu upper castes to work in his favour.
The Left Democratic Front, on the other hand, bets heavily on the considerable influence of Mr. George among the Knanaya Catholic community and also on the well-geared election machinery. A former legislator, the KC(M) general secretary also nurtures strong personal connections all around the Assembly segment.
The NDA, meanwhile, expects the candidature of Mr. Lal will bring in the much-needed freshness to its campaign and build on the momentum it gained during the local body elections. Among the factors that will determine the coalition’s performance includes the stance of the Nair and Ezhava communities.
Thrice earlier
But in a region where the Knanaya and Catholic churches hold the sway, the battle will be most keenly fought between the two KC leaders, who had fought against each other in the same seat on three occasions earlier. While Mr. George had won the seat in 2001, Mr. Joseph emerged victorious in 2006 and 2011.
Of the 11 local bodies in the segment, nine are under the LDF’s rule. The UDF has just one panchayat while it supports the One Indian One Pension movement led council in another panchayat.
