Kerala Assembly Election 2021, Angamaly profile: Congress' Roji M John wrested seat from JD(S) in 2016

Angamaly Assembly Election 2021 | The Angamaly Assembly constituency is located in the Ernakulam district of Kerala. The Angamaly Assembly constituency will vote on 6 April, 2021, along with the rest of Kerala.

Past election results and winners

In the 12 Assembly polls held in the constituency, the CPM and Congress have each won the seat four times while the JD(S) and the Kerala Congress have each won two.

Among the prominent figures who represented the constituency was former Kerala Speaker AP Kurian. Kurian won the first four elections in Angamaly and served as the MLA from 1967 to 1982.

Congress leader and trade union activist PJ Joy won the seat in 1991, 1996 and 2001. However, his bid for a fourth term was quashed in 2006 when JD(S) leader Jose Thettayil won by 6,094 votes.

Congress recaptured the seat in 2016 by 9,186 votes with then NSUI president Roji M John as its candidate. John won the seat with 66,666 votes, while JD(S) runner-up Benny Moonjely got 57,480 votes. Kerala Congress' PC Thomas faction’s nominee PJ Babu came third with 9,014 votes.

Total electors, voter turnout, population

Electors: Angamaly has an electorate of 1,71,314, which consists of 85,010 males, and 86,304 females. There are 149 polling stations in the constituency.

Voter turnout: A total of 1,35,702 voters cast their vote in the 2016 Assembly election, of whom 67,754 were males and 67,948 were females. Angamaly witnessed a voter turnout of 82.98 percent.

Population: The Angamaly Assembly constituency comprises Angamaly municipality; and Ayyampuzha, Kalady, Karukutty, Malayattoor-Neeleswaram, Manjapra, Mookkannoor, Parakkadavu and Thuravoor panchayats in Aluva taluk.

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.