With the highest number of candidates in Kozhikode district, the fight is hotter this time at Koduvally. Sixteen candidates, including namesakes, have filed their nomination papers to test their luck in the constituency.
The Left Democratic Front’s (LDF) strategy of fielding Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) dissident and sitting MLA Karat Razak again has evoked a much serious response this time from the United Democratic Front (UDF). The entry of its seasoned politician M.K. Muneer to take on the LDF candidate is expected to be a game changer for the front in the 2021 elections.
Visibly, the confidence factor of the UDF is the lead it gained in the recent local body elections. The Koduvally municipality and the other six grama panchayats are now with the UDF.
The front also hopes that the recent controversies over the gold smuggling case and its alleged links with the LDF candidate will favour it. “Voters know everything, and they will make the right decision,” say UDF workers.
Meanwhile, LDF campaigners say no one can just think of a cakewalk by banking on the the local body election results. They add that the history of Koduvally is quite different as it has witnessed unexpected twists and turns. A constituency where the UDF enjoyed continuous victories from 1957 to 2001 is no more its bastion, they say.
For the LDF, disagreements within the IUML over Dr. Muneer’s candidature in Koduvally have come as an advantage. The front claims that the number of IUML dissidents has multiplied in the constituency, which will create a favourable atmosphere for it in the election.
It was in 2006 that the electorate gave its first shock treatment to the UDF. LDF Independent P.T.A. Rahim’s victory with a majority of over 7,500 votes had stunned the UDF. Though the UDF’s V.M. Ummer captured the constituency in 2011 with a margin of 16,552 votes, the electorate took a ‘U-turn’ again in the 2016 elections. LDF Independent Karat Razak wrested the constituency back with a thin margin of 573 votes against UDF candidate M.A. Razak.
Amid the battle of the two major fronts, the focus of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is mainly on improving its vote share. The party had received 8.4% of votes in the last Assembly elections. The BJP has fielded T. Balasoman as its candidate in the constituency. He says the party will increase its vote share considerably in the upcoming elections.