Cong. makes all-out bid to wrest Kunnamangalam

The three-cornered contest is between Congress’ T. Siddique, LDF’s P.T.A. Rahim, and C.K. Padmanabhan of BJP

: As in the previous polls, the Kunnamangalam Assembly constituency is poised for an interesting triangular tussle.

The three-cornered contest is among the former Youth Congress leader T. Siddique, LDF-backed sitting legislator P.T.A. Rahim and BJP’s former State president C.K. Padmanabhan. As electioneering reaches a crescendo, it appears that the Congress nominee is making an all-out bid to wrest the seat.

The decision of the Congress to swap its Balussery seat with Kunnamangalam segment has now given an upper hand to the UDF. After initial hiccups over the confusion of the Congress candidate, the UDF has set off a high-voltage campaign. In the 2011 elections, Mr. Rahim had captured the seat from two-time legislator, U.C. Raman, the Dalit face of IUML, who is currently contesting from the reserved constituency of Balussery.

Kunnamangalam comprising the grama panchayats of Kunnamangalam, Chathamangalam, Olavanna, Peruvayil, Peruvanna and Mavoor became LDF-dominated following its delimitation in 2010. Besides, a consolidation of Sunni votes had helped Mr. Rahim emerge victorious in the polls last time.

However, UDF poll managers say the situation has changed with the Congress- IUML combine marshalling all its resources to woo the electorate. Not to be left behind is the campaign blitz of the CPI (M)-led LDF. What worries the LDF- backed candidate is the slender margin of 3, 269 votes Mr. Rahim secured in the last polls. And this aspect is giving the UDF a sliver of hope to capture the seat. Congress candidate M.K. Raghavan had reduced this margin by 200 votes in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

Familiar face

The entry of the BJP in a big way is posing a challenge to both the candidates. Mr. Padmanabhan is a familiar face in the constituency as he is contesting from Kunnamangalam for the second time and he was also the BJP’s Lok Sabha candidate in Kozhikode. He had polled 17,123 votes, but notched up 21, 726 votes from the segment in the Lok Sabha polls.

The RSS is playing a pivotal role in the constituency. The votes polled by Mr. Padmanabhan will make or mar the electoral fortune of either of the two coalitions.