The BJP has surprised voters of Malappuram by fielding M. Abdul Salam, former Vice Chancellor of Calicut University, in Tirur.
Dr. Salam will take on the UDF’s Kurukkoli Moideen and the LDF’s Gafoor P. Lillis. Dr. Salam is one of the two Muslim candidates on the BJP banner in Malappuram — the other is Sattar Haji Kalliyath in Tirurangadi. Sattar Haji had been with the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) before joining the BJP and is currently the district president of the Minority Morcha.
Dr. Salam was in the thick of many controversies during his tenure as Vice Chancellor. He went to the varsity as a UDF nominee in 2011 and relinquished the post in 2015, leaving behind a rogue image after having embittered and alienated most sections of employees, including those loyal to the UDF and LDF.
But it needs to be seen if Dr. Salam can make a ripple in Tirur. It also needs to be seen if the contest will be triangular or not, because the BJP’s vote share in the constituency has been abysmally low.
In 2016, the BJP’s M.K. Devidasan had secured 9,083 votes in Tirur (only 5.79% of the votes polled). While UDF incumbent C. Mammootty polled 46.85% votes, LDF’s Gafoor P. Lillis got 42.34%.
In 2011 too, the BJP’s vote share in Tirur was only 4.39%. The party’s Muslim candidate P.T. Ali Haji had polled only 5,543 votes then.
However, the BJP’s vote share in Tirur had risen marginally to 7.13% in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections when the NDA’s V.T. Rema polled 11,365 votes. BJP leaders said they hoped to make an impact in Tirur by fielding Dr. Salam. According to them, Dr. Salam’s contacts and goodwill are expected to work in his favour.