THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Perhaps no other district in Kerala witnessed the kind of political developments that Thiruvananthapuram district did in the past five years. Starting from CPM MLA R Selvaraj’s cross over to UDF in 2012 to BJP emerging as the main opposition in Thiruvananthapuram Corporation in 2015 local bodies poll.
Unlike 2011 when the contest was direct between the LDF and UDF, this time around the political situation on the ground has changed significantly at least in urban constituencies of state capital.
The ruling UDF had a successful run till local bodies poll. But today it is fighting anti-incumbency, bar bribe and solar case. What is more worrying for the ruling front is the emergence of BJP as the main opposition in Corporation. But the UDF camp is hopeful of overcoming these hurdles on the strength of its government’s development projects like Vizhinjam port and completion of the first stretch of Karmana-Kaliyikavila six laneroad.
BJP on the other hand is pinning its hopes on Thiruvananthapuram district to open its account. The party’s stunning performance in Nemom, bypolls in Neyyattinkara and Aruvikkara and Lok Sabha elections, have raised its hopes.
Though the single biggest factor in these elections was the candidate Mr Rajagopal, the party managed to secure between 35,000 to 45,000 votes in eight Assembly constituencies. As of now Nemom seems to be the best bet for BJP provided Mr Rajagopal enters the fray.
In 2011, the UDF won eight of the 14 seats and took its tally to nine by engineering Selvaraj’s cross over. LDF camp is now confident of reversing the results in its favour. Political observers say Parassala, Neyattinkara, Kovalam, Vamanapuram, Nedumangad, Attingal, Chiriyankeezhu, Katakada, Aruvikkara and Varkala segments are likely to witness a direct fight between LDF and UDF. BJP is confident of turning Nemom, Vatiryoorkavu, Tiruvananthapuram and Kazhakootam into a triangular fight, CPM which faced intense factionalism especially in Parassala and Neyattinkara which culminated in Anavoor’s defeat by 505 votes and Selvaraj’s cross over, looks united this time.
Considering the high stakes, the party plans to retain old guardslike V Sivankutty, B Sathyan, Koiliakode Krishnan Nair and even M Vijaykumar besides fielding some young faces.
After the corporation debacle, the Congress is also cautious. It may return seasoned campaigners like Varkala Kahar, M A Vahid, V S Sivakumar, K Muraleedharan, N Sakthan, Palode Ravi, K S Sabarinath, George Mercier and Thampanoor Ravi.
BJP is pinning hopes on Rajagopal (Nemom), Kummanam Rajashekharan (Vatiyoorkavu), actor Suresh Gopi (Thiruvananthapuram), V Muraleedharan (Kazhakootam) and district president S Suresh from Parassala.
Clearly, Thiruvananthapuram district is going to witness mother of all electoral battles with rivals intensely fighting for supremacy. The front which romps home with maximum number of seats from the district will play a key role in the formation of next government.
