With the end of Navaratri celebrations, the election campaign in Manjeswaram constituency has picked up, with State and Central leaders of all the three major fronts lining up for campaign for their respective candidates.
With electioneering entering its second leg, the leaders try to woo the voters on issues related to development, linguistic minority, and communal problems. The constituency, bordering Karnataka, has a sizeable population of Kannada and Tulu speakers.
Major leaders
Communist Party of India (Marxist) State secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan was in the constituency on Thursday while Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala campaigned for the United Democratic Front (UDF). Likewise, the Bharatiya Janata Party, which narrowly lost the 2016 elections, saw leaders like BJP State president P.S. Sreedharan Pillai, Union Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda, Karnataka MP Nalin Kumar Kateel, and P.K. Krishnadas campaigning for their candidate in the constituency.
The election scene is expected to pep up with Congress leaders and former Chief Ministers A.K. Antony and Oommen Chandy; Remya Haridas; Kollam MP N.K. Premachandran; Vadakara MP K. Muraleedharan, MPs from Alathur, Kollam, and Vadakara respectively; Irrikur MLA K.C. Joseph; Syed Hyder Ali Shihab Thangal, V.M. Sudheeran, for the UDF and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for the Left Democratic Front (LDF) are expected to arrive on different days here. The BJP too is expected to bring more central leaders for the election campaign.
The bypoll was necessitated after the death of legislator P.B Abdul Razak of the Indian Union Muslim League.
For the past three decades, the constituency has been seeing a three-way contest. But Manjeswaram attracted a lot of attention in 2016 when BJP candidate K. Surendran lost to Mr. Razaq by just 89 votes. The BJP is keen to turn this defeat into victory during the bypoll.
The constituency has already witnessed controversies and fiery exchanges even before LDF candidate Shankar Rai; UDF nominee M.C. Kamrudheen; and National Democratic Front (NDA) candidate Ravisha Thanthri Kuntar, have completed the second leg of poll campaign.
Leaders such as Mr. Chennithala accused the BJP and CPI(M) of destroying secularism and democracy in the State by killing people. The statement of LDF candidate Mr. Rai on the Sabarimala issue also came under fire with the BJP outrightly accusing the LDF of diving the Hindu votes to help the UDF win the election.
Poll planks
The LDF, fresh from its victory in the Pala boypoll, is largely banking on the governance and development work carried out in the constituency. The nomination of local candidate Shankar Rai for the election has also infused confidence into the camp. Meanwhile, the UDF and the NDA, which initially had differences about the nomination of candidates, are bracing up for a win.
The Manjeswaram constituency, comprising Manjeswaram, Vorkady, Menja, Mangalpady, Paivalike, Kumbala, Puthige, and Enmakaje panchayats, has been a stronghold of the UDF for quite some time. While the Manjeshwarsm, Vorkady, Menja, Mangalpady, Kumbala, and Enmakaje panchayats are governed by the UDF, the LDF has the rest.
However, the constituency has always thrown surprises and has a tradition of bringing in different political fronts to power. In the first election, M. Umesh Rao of Karnataka Samithi won the elections without any opposition in 1957. In 1960, Karnataka Samithi’s K. Mahabala Bhandary won the seat and retained it in the 1965 and 1967 elections.
But in 1970, the Assembly segment witnessed a change and M. Ramappa of the Communist Party of India (CPI), won the election by defeating U.P. Kunikullaya of Karnataka Samithi. The Left front continued to hold the Assembly seat in the 1977, 1980, and1982 polls.
But in 1987, the constituency saw a shift when UDF candidate Cherkalam Abdullah wrested the seat from the Left and continued his hold until 2006, when he was defeated by CPI(M) candidate C.H. Kunhambu. However, in 2011, the constituency was back again in the UDF fold and P.B. Adul Razak won the election for the first time, defeating BJP candidate K. Surendran.
