Kerala - Others
CPI trying to regain its lost fortress of Kodungalloor
Renu Ramanath
In 2001, party candidate Meenakshi Thampan suffered a shocking defeat here at the hands of the JSS candidate
KODUNGALLOOR: Kodungalloor had been a bastion of the Communist Party of India (CPI) till the 2001 Assembly elections when Umesh Challiyil of the Janadhipathya Samrakshana Samithi (JSS) won the seat for the United Democratic Front.
In the elections held since 1977, the CPI had been holding sway over the constituency. The late V.K. Rajan, former Minister for Agriculture and party leader, had represented it from that year to 1991.
In 2001, Mr. Challiyil, a youth leader of the samithi, defeated the party candidate, Meenakshi Thampan, who was representing the constituency then, by 11,941 votes.
This time, the party is determined to regain the lost fortress. The party candidate, K.P. Rajendran, MLA representing Cherpu in Thrissur, is giving a tough fight to Mr. Challiyil, who is also determined to retain the seat.
The election talk in Kodungalloor centres on the memory of the late V.K. Rajan, who shifted to the neighbouring Mala constituency to make way for Prof. Thampan. Candidates, cutting across party lines, make it a point to start their campaign by visiting the V.K. Rajan Memorial in his house at Pulloottu. This time, Mr. Rajendran and Mr. Challiyil arrived almost at the same time at the memorial on April 3, before starting their campaigns.
While development remains the key electoral issue on the surface at least, political equations are an underlying factor in Kodungalloor. The constituency, with 1,50,497 voters, has a strong presence of Ezhava and Muslim communities, which form 41 per cent and 30 per cent, respectively, of the population.
Mr. Challiyil, favoured by the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) Yogam leadership, has been president of the Kodungalloor taluk SNDP Union for 12 years. He is also regional committee treasurer of the Yogam.
Mr. Challiyil's taking oath in the Assembly in the name of Sree Narayana Guru had kicked up a storm, leading to debates about the propriety and validity of his action. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is reported to have 22,000 votes in the constituency, according to estimates made from the voting pattern in the recent local bodies polls, has fielded Mohan Shankar, son of the former Chief Minister R. Shankar. Mr. Mohan Shankar, who had contested as the Congress candidate in Kottayam in the Assembly elections in 1996, was defeated by the late T.K. Ramakrishnan. He joined the BJP later. He has served as director of Sree Narayana Trust and Yogam councillor. The Kodungalloor municipality and all the panchayats, Perinjanam, Mathilakam, Sree Narayana Puram, Edavilangu, Eriyadu and Methala, in the constituency are ruled by the Left Front. The BJP has improved its position here in recent years, winning three seats in the municipality. It has also become the largest single party in Edavilangu panchayat, though an alliance of the Left Front and the Democratic Indira Congress-Karunakaran (DIC-K) has managed to keep it out of power.
(The Hindu, April 25, 2006)
CPI trying to regain its lost fortress of Kodungalloor
Renu Ramanath
In 2001, party candidate Meenakshi Thampan suffered a shocking defeat here at the hands of the JSS candidate
KODUNGALLOOR: Kodungalloor had been a bastion of the Communist Party of India (CPI) till the 2001 Assembly elections when Umesh Challiyil of the Janadhipathya Samrakshana Samithi (JSS) won the seat for the United Democratic Front.
In the elections held since 1977, the CPI had been holding sway over the constituency. The late V.K. Rajan, former Minister for Agriculture and party leader, had represented it from that year to 1991.
In 2001, Mr. Challiyil, a youth leader of the samithi, defeated the party candidate, Meenakshi Thampan, who was representing the constituency then, by 11,941 votes.
This time, the party is determined to regain the lost fortress. The party candidate, K.P. Rajendran, MLA representing Cherpu in Thrissur, is giving a tough fight to Mr. Challiyil, who is also determined to retain the seat.
The election talk in Kodungalloor centres on the memory of the late V.K. Rajan, who shifted to the neighbouring Mala constituency to make way for Prof. Thampan. Candidates, cutting across party lines, make it a point to start their campaign by visiting the V.K. Rajan Memorial in his house at Pulloottu. This time, Mr. Rajendran and Mr. Challiyil arrived almost at the same time at the memorial on April 3, before starting their campaigns.
While development remains the key electoral issue on the surface at least, political equations are an underlying factor in Kodungalloor. The constituency, with 1,50,497 voters, has a strong presence of Ezhava and Muslim communities, which form 41 per cent and 30 per cent, respectively, of the population.
Mr. Challiyil, favoured by the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) Yogam leadership, has been president of the Kodungalloor taluk SNDP Union for 12 years. He is also regional committee treasurer of the Yogam.
Mr. Challiyil's taking oath in the Assembly in the name of Sree Narayana Guru had kicked up a storm, leading to debates about the propriety and validity of his action. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is reported to have 22,000 votes in the constituency, according to estimates made from the voting pattern in the recent local bodies polls, has fielded Mohan Shankar, son of the former Chief Minister R. Shankar. Mr. Mohan Shankar, who had contested as the Congress candidate in Kottayam in the Assembly elections in 1996, was defeated by the late T.K. Ramakrishnan. He joined the BJP later. He has served as director of Sree Narayana Trust and Yogam councillor. The Kodungalloor municipality and all the panchayats, Perinjanam, Mathilakam, Sree Narayana Puram, Edavilangu, Eriyadu and Methala, in the constituency are ruled by the Left Front. The BJP has improved its position here in recent years, winning three seats in the municipality. It has also become the largest single party in Edavilangu panchayat, though an alliance of the Left Front and the Democratic Indira Congress-Karunakaran (DIC-K) has managed to keep it out of power.
(The Hindu, April 25, 2006)
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