Saffron In Red Country

Ever since election dates were announ­ced for assembly polls in Kerala, the spotlight has been on Nemom constituency in Thiruvananthapuram—the lone seat held by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the assembly. The BJP ­describes the constituency as the ‘Gujarat of Kerala’, but other main players in the fray—the CPI(M) and the Congress—are pulling out all stops to unseat the BJP from its first-ever representation in the assembly.

The BJP has replaced sitting MLA O. Rajagopal by giving the party ticket to senior leader and former Mizoram governor Kummanam Rajasekharan (in pic). In the three-cornered contest this time, he will take on V. Sivankutty of the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) and sitting MP K. Muraleedharan of the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF).

“It’s the most keenly watched seat in the state and a fierce contest is in the offing. It is not going to be a ­walkover for any party,” says J. Prabhash, a political scientist.

Much is at stake for the Congress as the party wants to wash off allegations of helping the BJP to script its historic win in the state. The CPI(M) and other political rivals accuse the Congress of fielding its weak ally, Janata Dal (S), against the BJP in the 2016 assembly election. Political observers say the Congress central leadership is therefore keen on fielding a strong candidate in Nemom as the BJP has been spreading its wings in the state at the expense of the grand old party. “The central ­leadership was adamant that we should snatch Nemom from the BJP at any cost,” says a senior Congress leader.  

During deliberations between the central and state leadership in Delhi, the party had even considered names of senior leaders such as Shashi Tharoor, Oommen Chandy and Ramesh Chennithala for the constituency.  Though the high command strongly pitched Chandy for the seat, he ­ins­isted on contesting from Puthupally, a constituency he has been holding for 10 years. In Muraleedharan’s case, the central leadership relaxed its norm of not fielding sitting MPs for assembly polls.

Experts say the demographic ­profile of the constituency will play a crucial role in deciding the winner. The ­part­ies are trying to woo the ­majority Hindus. “But the minority votes comprising Muslims and Christian Nadars are also ­significant,” says Prabhash.

Political commentators say Kummanam Rajasekharan may not enjoy the same support that Rajagopal had in the 2016 polls. “Rajagopal was a popular leader. Moreover, he was a known face as he has ­contested many times before for that seat,” says Prabhash.