The district is slowly getting into the election groove with a clearer picture emerging about who will be the candidates of the Congress-led United Democratic Front, the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Democratic Front, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the two Lok Sabha constituencies here.
The Congress high command has cleared the name of M.K. Raghavan, sitting MP from Kozhikode.
Union Minister of State for Home Mullappally Ramachandran’s candidature has been cleared for the Vadakara seat.
CPI(M) candidatesThe CPI-(M) leadership has decided to field its Central committee member A. Vijayaraghavan from Kozhikode and DYFI leader A.N. Shamsheer from the Vadakara constituency.
The BJP has nominated its former State president C.K. Padmanabhan from Kozhikode and its State spokesperson V.K. Sajeevan from Vadakara.
The three candidates for the Kozhikode seat are seasoned politicians and no novice to electoral battles.
Mr. Vijayaraghavan is from Malappuram district while both Mr. Raghavan and Mr. Padmanabhan are from Kannur district.
The CPI (M) decided to field Mr. Vijayaraghavan after having second thoughts on the candidature of the popular legislator A. Pradeepkumar from Kozhikode North.
He has been a member of the Lok Sabha from Palakkad earlier and also had a stint at the Rajya Sabha.
The party believes that Mr. Vijayaraghavan is the best bet to take on Mr. Raghavan, who has made his presence felt in the constituency in the last five years through various development schemes.
The party’s main election plank this time will be the anti-incumbency at the Centre and the State, party sources say.
Modi factorAt the same time Mr. Padmanabhan also feels that the Modi factor sweeping across the country would work out in his favour.
He is not an unfamiliar face in Kozhikode as he has contested the Kunnamangalam Assembly segment coming under the Lok Sabha constituency.
Stronger contenderThe CPI (M) State committee’s decision to nominate Mr. Shamsheer from Vadakara initially did not go down well with the party district committee which wanted a stronger contender to wrestle back its traditional bastion.
Mr. Mullappally Ramachandran had won the seat by a margin of over 50,000 votes trouncing P. Sathidevi, the party’s sitting MP, in 2009.
Now both the fronts have planned to hold conventions in the constituencies in the next two days.
The BJP, too, has kicked off its campaign.
The Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP), floated by dissident CPI (M) leader T.P. Chandrasekharan, is yet to announce candidates for the Vadakara seat.
Rema reluctantHis widow, K.K. Rema, has expressed her reluctance to contest the polls.
However, the RMP leadership feels the presence of the party in Vadakara is of vital importance especially after the murder of Chandrasekharan two years ago.
Several others such as Indian National League and the Aam Aadmi Party have also decided to enter the fray.