It’s a neck-and-neck race of a different spectre in the land of snakeboat race.
The Assembly segment, which houses the heritage village of Aranmula, the district headquarters of Pathanamthitta, and the venue of Asia’s largest annual Christian congregation at Maramon, is all set to witness a tight three-cornered race.
The poll plank is strictly political for all the three major players this time.
Key mantra
For sitting MLA K. Sivadasan Nair of the Congress, Veena George of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), and M.T. Ramesh of the Bharatiya Janata Party, development has been the key mantra right from the starting point. The controversial Aranmula airport is no more a poll issue here if indications emerging from the ground are taken into account.
By fielding a television personality, the CPI((M)-led LDF hopes to outsmart the unflinching Congress stalwart in his bastion. But an unfeigned Sivadasan Nair, with his legislative track record over the past one decade, appears confident that his political opponent’s glamour quotient and minority tag would not make a mark in his home turf. Mr. Sivadasan Nair, who enjoys the confidence of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, is looking for a hat-trick win here with a systematic campaign by the UDF poll apparatus.
The CPI(M) district unit seems to have overcome the rumblings against the candidature of Ms. George and the well-oiled Left Democratic Front campaign machinery is in full swing following the intervention of State leaders like Pinarayi Vijayan, M.A. Baby, and Kodiyeri Balakrishnan.
Ms. George, a novice in electoral politics, has taken the hiccups in her stride and has gelled well with the LDF cadre to put up a united front.
No-holds-barred fight
For the BJP, it’s a no-holds-barred fight in what it believes is a politically fertile land. he party seems confident that Mr. Ramesh, who had propelled the party’s vote share in the Assembly segment to 23,771 in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls from its tally of 10,227 in the 2011 Assembly polls, will work a miracle this time around.
Its confidence also stems from the fact that it could further increase its vote share in the Assembly segment to 29,859 in the 2015 local body elections.
BDJS factor
With a tall leader like Mr. Ramesh in the fray and the party’s new-found ally Bharat Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS) exerting its strong presence in certain pockets such as Mezhuvely and Elavumthitta, Aranmula is one constituency where the party hopes to break the jinx.
As the campaign gets into the top gear, the land of snakeboat regatta and race awaits a photo finish on May 16, leaving no room for any prediction.
