Kerala Assembly Election 2021, Tirurangadi profile: IUML retained bastion in 2016, but vote share dropped

Tirurangadi Assembly Election 2021 | The Tirurangadi Assembly constituency is an LDF bastion in the Malappuram district of Kerala. While the seat has mostly been with the IUML, Congress held the seat one time when AK Anthony won the 1995 bypoll following VA Beeran Sahib’s death.

IUML leader K Avukader Kutty Naha has won a record six Assembly polls in Tirurangadi: in 1957, 1960, 1970, 1977, 1980, and 1982. His son PK Abdul Rabb is the present Tirurangadi MLA who won his second term in 2016 by 6,043 votes.

According to reports, the IUML is considering the names of Rabb’s brother PK Anwar Naha and senior leader PMA Salam to contest from Tirurangadi. The LDF is yet to disclose its plans for the Assembly constituency.

Past election results and winners

In the previous election, the UDF’s vote share declined from 58.48 percent in 2011 to 46.53 percent in 2016. Abdul Rabb retained his seat by polling 62,927 votes in 2016. The runner-up, LDF-backed Independent candidate Niyas Pulikkalakath, came second with 56,884 votes.

Total electors, voter turnout, population

Electors: Tirurangadi has 1.91 lakh registered voters who can exercise their franchise in the upcoming Assembly election. The electorate comprises 97,575 males, 94,332 females and one third-gender. The constituency has 161 polling stations.

Voter turnout: During the 2016 Assembly election, Tirurangadi recorded a voter turnout of 73.81 percent. A total of 61,566 men and 73,322 women cast their vote in the constituency.
Population: The Tirurangadi Assembly segment is made of Edarikode, Nannambra, Parappanangadi, Thennala, Tirurangadi, and Perumanna panchayats.

As per Census 2011, of Kerala's 3.34 crore population, 54.73 percent are followers of Hinduism, followed by 26.56 percent followers of Islam and 18.38 percent Christians. Hinduism is the major religion in 13 of the state's 14 districts.
Malappuram is the only district in Kerala where Islam is the major religion with 70.24 percent of the district's total population following the religion.

The state has a tiny population that follows Jainism (0.01 percent), Sikhism (0.01 percent), Buddhism (0.01 percent) and 0.02 percent (other religions). Nearly 0.26 percent in the state didn't state their religion during the 2011 Census.

Election date and timing

The Kerala Assembly/Niyama Sabha polls will be held on 6 April, 2021, along with Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. The day will also see phase three polls in Assam and West Bengal.

The Kerala Legislative Assembly (Vidhan Sabha) has a total number of 140 seats, of which, 14 seats are reserved for the Scheduled Castes and two seats are reserved for the Scheduled Tribes.

The outgoing Assembly has eight female MLAs and rest 132 are male MLAs. The incumbent Kerala Niyamasabha will expire on 1 June, 2021.

Political alliances and Kerala

Elections in Kerala have traditionally been a contest between the UDF and the LDF with power swinging between the two groups.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the Congress-led UDF had won 19 out of the state’s 20 Lok Sabha seats banking on incumbency against the ruling LDF. However, repeating a similar feat in the Assembly polls is going to be an uphill task for the UDF.

The LDF has not only managed to overcome anti-incumbency in the 2020 local body polls but also managed to make inroads into UDF votebanks, particularly in Thrissur, Ernakulam, and Kottayam districts.

The NDA, which is emerging as a third front in Kerala, will be hoping to increase its tally in the Assembly polls. However, given that the BJP-led NDA didn't meet the expectations in the 2020 local body polls despite making gains, its ability to impact either the UDF's or LDF's prospects in the Assembly election remains unclear.

Of the seven Assembly segments that are part of the Kasaragod Parliamentary constituency, five are with the CPM-led LDF (four with CPM, and one with CPI) while IUML, a constituent of the Congress-led UDF, is the second-largest party, winning the remaining two seats (Kasaragod and Manjeshwaram) in the last Assembly polls.

BJP didn't win any of the seven Assembly segments that are part of the Kasaragod Parliamentary constituency in 2016.