Once bitten, twice shy
The CPI(M)-led LDF will not repeat the mistake of hugging Madani in public this time as The congress-led udf readies for the battle for three assembly constituencies in kerala, says Anu Warrier

During the last Lok Sabha polls, a CPI(M) Politburo member from Kerala was sad that the state had only 20 constituencies. As the results came out, he boarded himself up inside Delhi’s AKG Bhavan. Party committees blamed chief minister V.S. Achuthanandan’s remarks, his studied silence on controversial issues and the LDF’s relationship with Abdul Nasser Madani’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the loss of 16 seats. Now, the party faces yet another litmus test. The three Assembly seats, which fell vacant after the representatives got elected to the Lok Sabha, go to polls on November 7.

As usual, the fight is between the CPI(M)-led LDF and the Congress-led UDF. Unlike the parliamentary elections, this time both fronts are reluctant to claim victory. The constituencies as well as the warring fronts themselves have been in considerable flux.

In an attempt to come clean in front of the voters, the LDF has made sure that CPI(M) state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan does not hug Madani this time. Vijayan had supported Madani, who was in jail for nine years as an accused in Coimbatore blast case, against all odds in the Lok Sabha polls. He had even challenged the CPI, another key LDF constituent, to protect the interests of the PDP chairman on Ponnani seat. Now he keeps mum on his party’s relationship with PDP. To add to that, Madani has fielded his candidate against G. Krishnaprasad, the CPI nominee in Alappuzha. But in Ernakulam and Kannur, where CPI(M) candidates are in the fray, PDP has offered support to the LDF. However, the CPI(M) leadership has assured other LDF constituents that the front will not share dais with any party that is not a part of the front.

Another major change has been chief minister V.S. Achuthanandan’s ouster from the party’s supreme committee over charges of factionalism. Achuthanandan, who was always vocal in criticising the official faction of the party, is virtually silent after the Politburo action against him. He even inaugurated the LDF poll campaign at Kannur, where his archrival and Pinarayi-confidant M.V.Jayarajan puts up a hard fight against A.P. Abdullakkutty, the former CPI(M) MP who changed sides after getting booted out from the party just before the Lok Sabha polls. The UDF has another advantage in Kannur. The Janata Dal (S) faction, led by M.P. Veerendra Kumar, has officially joined the UDF. Moreover, there is no history of an LDF candidate winning the Kannur Assembly seat.

The bypolls in Alappuzha, Ernakulam and Kannur have become a trial of strength for both the fronts. The seats, held by UDF, fell vacant after the representatives were elected to the Lok Sabha and the LDF has made this an issue for campaign. The UDF wants to prove that the victory in the parliamentary election was not a fluke. The LDF, on the other hand, is determined to wrest at least one seat this time to show that the Lok Sabha poll result was just a one-time occurrence.

The stiffest battle is on at Kannur, where the LDF is putting all its weight behind its star contestant M.V.Jayarajan. Congress leader K.Sudhakaran held the seat before he was elected to Parliament. Sudhakaran had defeated CPI(M)’s K.K. Ragesh by a huge margin. The other aspect which makes the battle for Kannur interesting is that M.V. Jayarajan is pitted against former comrade-in-arms A.P. Abdullakkutty, who has twice represented the constituency in Parliament for CPI(M). Abdullakkutty, who joined the Congress after his controversial ejection from CPI(M), also takes this as a critical contest as nothing less than a victory could baptise him as a Congressman. However, Abdullakkutty won’t have it easy. Within the Congress itself, there is a group of disgruntled leaders who fear that a victorious Abdullakkutty can put paid to their future political careers. Both the CPI(M) and the Congress are accusing one another of preparing to rig the election. While the Congress alleges that the CPI(M) leadership, with the help of the district administration, has added bogus voters’ names to the voters’ list, CPI(M) accuses the Congress of trying to spread unrest in the constituency. A case has been registered against Sudhakaran charging him with unbailable offences including that of disrupting the duty of a tehsildar. Sudhakaran, of course, refutes the charge and alleges that the district collector has become a tool in the hands of the CPI(M). Thus, Kannur has emerged as the hottest battleground among all the three constituencies.

Elsewhere, the CPI(M) has accused Union minister Vayalar Ravi of violating election rules. The Congress has levelled similar accusations against state ministers C. Divakaran and K.P. Rajendran.

In Ernakulam, which elected Union minister K.V.Thomas as its MP, Congress leader and former parliamentarian Dominic Presentation is contesting against a new face, local CPI(M) leader P.N. Seenulal.

In Alappuzha, A.A. Shukkoor of the Congress is pitted against the CPI youth leader G. Krishna Prasad. Both of them are newcomers in the poll arena and the seat could go either way. BJP has fielded candidates in all the three constituencies but do not expect any miracle. The Congress leadership claims that the by-poll results will be a report card on the performance of the state government.

Though the influential Nair Service Society (NSS) ardently supported the UDF in the Lok Sabha polls, this time it is not putting its weight behind the Congress. The NSS leadership is not happy with the UDF candidates. Soon after the names were announced, NSS leaders commented that it seemed like Congress candidature was reserved for a certain community. Earlier, NSS had sent their reservation against Shashi Tharoor’s candidature for the Lok Sabha polls. The Catholic Church is still with the UDF even though there were attempts from the CPI(M) side to reconcile the differences between the Church and the government.

The LDF does not expect victory in all three seats. A CPI(M) leader told TSI, “We are sure to lose Ernakulam. We have a little hope at Alappuzha but do not expect a victory. Our only hope lies in Kannur where we expect Abdullakkutty’s remarks supporting Modi’s development model and his flip flops will cost him dearly. Actually, Kanur is a fight between the CPI(M) and Abdullakkutty, not between the two fronts.”

          

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