Victory in the Wadakkanchery constituency is a prestige issue for both the United Democratic Front (UDF) and the Left Democratic Front in the coming Assembly election.
The epicentre of the Livelihood Inclusion and Financial Empowerment (LIFE) Mission housing project controversy, Wadakkanchery is sure to witness a tough battle of allegations and counter allegations. For the UDF, there is a moral responsibility to prove their allegations against the housing project, and the LDF wants to establish that people are not concerned about controversies. The local body election result, which gave an upper hand for the LDF in the constituency, is a morale booster for the front.
Anil Akkara, who has been in the forefront of the attack against the LDF in the LIFE Mission controversy, is almost confirmed to be the UDF candidate while the name of Democratic Youth Federation of India leader Xavier Chittilappilly is on the preliminary list of the LDF.
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Shocking results
The constituency has a history of giving shocking climaxes for both fronts in the past elections. Considered as a Congress bastion, Wadakkanchery gave a jolt to Congress leader K. Muraleedharan, the then Electricity Minister, who was defeated by a newcomer A.C. Moideen in 2004. It stood with the LDF in 2006 too and sent Mr. Moideen to the Assembly once again. But in 2011, Congress leader C.N. Balakrishnan defeated N.R. Balan of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] and went on to become Minister for Cooperation.
Won by 43 votesADVERTISEMENT
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The UDF heaved a sigh of relief in the 2016 election when Anil Akkara won with a wafer-thin margin of 43 votes against Mary Thomas of the CPI(M). It was the only seat the UDF could win in the district in the 2016 Assembly election.
The UDF expects to cash in on the LIFE Mission controversy to improve their victory margin. But with more than 10,893 new voters this time, the LDF thinks it is not very tough to win in the constituency by crossing the thin margin of the UDF.
Post-delimitation Wadakkanchery has undergone drastic changes. Now, the constituency comprises Wadakkanchery municipality and Thekkumkara, Mulangunnathukavu, Avanur, Kolazhy, Kaiparambu, Adattu and Tholur gram panchayats.