One of the strongholds of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] in the State, Malampuzha remains a sure bet for the Left Democratic Front (LDF).
But what throws this giant constituency into limelight this time is the hope the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) reposes in Malampuzha. The BJP is pumping in a lot of resources to improve its position there.
It appears that BJP State general secretary C. Krishnakumar might better his vote share in Malampuzha. He has been focusing on Malampuzha in the past five years since he lost to CPI(M) veteran and former Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan by 27,142 votes in 2016. Mr. Krishnakumar, who polled 28.9% votes, had pushed Congress’s V.S. Joy to the third position.
Considering the vote share the BJP received in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and in the local civic body elections held last year, Mr. Krishnakumar is hopeful of noticeably improving his tally. What the BJP wants to cash in on is the lethargy visible in the Congress and the lack of freshness in the LDF.
Trade union background
LDF’s A. Prabhakaran and the UDF’s S.K. Ananthakrishnan have both come from different trade union backgrounds.
When they follow the conventional methods of campaigning, Mr. Krishnakumar has been a tad aggressive in his electioneering.
Formerly part of the Elappully constituency, Malampuzha favoured only the CPI(M) since the constituency came into being in 1965. Malampuzha started getting attention when former Chief Minister E.K. Nayanar successfully contested from there in 1980 and 1982.
T. Sivadasa Menon held Malampuzha for the CPI(M) three terms from 1987. The incumbent V.S. Achuthanandan was elected from there in 2001, 2006, 2011 and 2016.
In the past five years, CPI(M)’s Mr. Prabhakaran was almost like a de facto representative as Mr. Achuthanandan’s failing health kept him away from Malampuzha.
Solid network
The LDF is banking on the solid CPI(M) network spread across the panchayats of Akathethara, Elappully, Kodumbu, Malampuzha, Marutharoad, Mundur, Puthupariyaram and Pudussery that constitute the Malampuzha constituency.
The attrition suffered by the Congress was evident from the fact that it got reduced to zero seats in the Akathethara panchayat in the last local body polls, making the BJP the opposition party in the panchayat.