The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) has found itself in a spot following a decision of the Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP) to field its State secretary N. Venu in Vadakara for the upcoming Assembly polls.
The development comes at a time when a significant section of the Congress and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) leadership are pitching at the candidature of K.K. Rema, wife of slain RMP leader T.P. Chandrasekharan. Their plan was to support Ms. Rema in a bid to influence the voter-base of the RMP in the neighbouring Koyilandy, Kuttiyadi, Nadapuram and Kunnamangalam segments. Local leaders of the Congress-IUML combine have been coercing Ms. Rema to enter the fray for long. But she opted out dashing the hopes of the UDF which wanted to rake up political violence as a key issue and revive the memories of the brutal killing of Chandrasekharan at Onchiyam in Vadakara on May 4, 2012. Ms. Rema, as RMP candidate, had unsuccessfully contested the Assembly polls in 2016, garnering over 20,000 votes.
Electoral understanding
After the UDF worked out an electoral understanding with the RMP in the recent local body polls, their leaders were pinning hopes on such an arrangement in the Assembly polls as well.
Lok Sabha polls
Incidentally, the RMP also did not field a candidate in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Vadakara. K. Muraleedharan of the Congress had secured 71,162 votes then defeating CPI(M) candidate P. Jayarajan, who had secured 48,199 votes.
The Congress and the IUML leadership are keen on persuading Ms. Rema to contest from Vadakara.
If that fails, the Congress will have to scout for a candidate or offer the seat to any of its coalition partners. The LDF has not decided on the Vadakara seat so far.
