No matter who wins, the election to the Kozhikode Corporation Council is all set to be a watershed.
If the Congress-led UDF wins, it means the coalition has ended the winning streak of Left parties or their coalition, of the last four decades–something of a record. And if the CPI (M)-led LDF retains the council, it means the coalition is invincible at least for the next five years as well.
But as campaigning draws to a close, a first-time anti-incumbency trend is sweeping across the civic body. The attack launched by the opposition Congress-Indian Union Muslim League combine on the LDF’s failures has put the ruling front on a razor edge. How the CPI (Marxist) bucks the anti-incumbency factor is a big question.
Unlike the previous polls, the UDF has chosen its Mayoral candidate, KPCC general secretary P.M. Suresh Babu, and its campaigns are more meticulously planned and are systematic now.
The Left poll managers, who were confident initially of romping home yet again, seem to be waking up to the reality that its once-solid vote bank is eroding. Even the CPI (M)’s high-profile Mayoral candidates—V.K.C. Mammed Koya, an industrialist and former MLA from Beypore and Thottathil Raveendran, former chairman of the Guruvayur Devaswom Board—are finding the going tough in their home constituencies at Arekkad and Chakkorathukulam respectively.
What is equally worrying the CPI (M) are the undercurrents of communal polarisation, intra-party power struggles after the present district secretary P. Mohanan took over in January this year, and disgruntlement among LDF partners.
Besides, which way the poll turns out may depend on how well the BJP and the RMP strategically play their cards. Already, the CPI (M) has accused the BJP and the UDF of a secret pact in many wards. The allegation is, a quid pro electoral adjustment has been worked out in 12 wards, a number significant enough to change the complexion of the 75- member council.
In the 2010 polls, the LDF had barely scraped through with seven more seats than the UDF. It was saved largely by its winning 17 out of the 20 wards in the three erstwhile gram panchayats of Elathur, Beypore and Cheruvannur- Nallalam, merged with the Corporation before the polls.
