Wednesday, Apr 14, 2004
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Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary | Kerala
By R. Madhavan Nair
KOZHIKODE APRIL 13. A determined bid by M.P. Veerendrakumar, socialist and former Union Minister, to pull off a victory for the Left Democratic Front (LDF) in the forthcoming election has generated excitement in the Kozhikode Lok Sabha constituency. UDF campaign managers admit that Mr. Veerendrakumar has already taken a lead in the first lap of the electoral race. This, they hasten to add, is mainly because they are yet to get down to serious campaigning. Groupism, admits a top Congress leader, continues to be a worrisome factor to election campaign managers. Posters of K.P. Unnikrishnan, who had unsuccessfully lobbied for the Congress ticket in Kozhikode with the support of a faction in the party, have appeared in front of the District Congress Committee (DCC) office. Though going by electoral history, Kozhikode is a pro-UDF constituency with farmers, tribal people and a large chunk of Muslim voters constituting a large part of the electorate, the LDF sees a bright chance of victory in the May 10 election. It is discontent, which is still prevailing in a section of the Congress and the politically superior stature of its candidate, that has given rise to this optimism. Congress feeder organisations such as Youth Congress, KSU, INTUC and Mahila Congress are yet to get into the electioneering mode. Elections in the Kozhikode Lok Sabha constituency have never been lacking in excitement. It was here that the Power Minister, K. Muraleedharan, made his debut in big-time politics. He contested three elections in all and lost one from here. And his defeat, in 1996, was at the hands of Mr. Veerenda Kumar, who had gone on to become a Union Minister then. The LDF camp is banking on the disgruntled elements in the Congress, who wanted Mr. Unnikrishnan to be the UDF candidate, as well as a section of Muslim voters to fashion a win for their candidate. Mr. Unnikrishnan is in Kozhikode and has called a press conference on April 16 where he is expected to speak out his mind.
However, the UDF candidate, V. Balram, has already made it clear that he is not going to be a pushover. He has already launched his public relations exercises to win over the unhappy elements in the UDF. But senior leaders of his party make no secret of their resentment against his candidature. The resentment is partly owing to his being a Karunakaran loyalist and partly because he is an `outsider'. There are quite a few senior UDF leaders who believe that the label of an `outsider is not going to do much electoral damage. The LDF candidate in the last Lok Sabha poll in Kozhikode was C.M. Ibrahim from Karnataka. Mr. Balram has been a low-profile politician though he demonstrated his loyalty to Karunakaran by quitting as Wadakkancherry MLA for Mr. Muraleedharan, thus enabling him to contest a byelection to fulfil the constitutional need to remain in his newly acquired post of Electricity Minister. What worries Mr. Balram's aides is the fact that it was Antony loyalists and a portion of IUML voters who had brought about the downfall of Mr. Muraleedharan in the 1996 elections. But Mr. Balram can draw hope from the electoral history of Kozhikode, which is generally considered to favour UDF candidates. A major chunk of the IUML voters, believed to constitute about 30 per cent of the electorate, and a large population of Christian migrants settled in Sulthan Bathery and Kalpetta Assembly segments in Wayanad district and Thiruvambady Assembly segment in Kozhikode district have been almost consistently providing a winning lead for UDF candidates. The votes polled for the LDF in its strongholds such as Balusserry have not been enough to give its candidate a win because of the sizable lead that is usually secured in Thiruvambadi, Koduvally, Bathery and Kalpetta by UDF candidates. But in elections, arithmetics work differently. Mr. Veerendrakumar, has been a dominating presence in the social and political scene for decades as a prolific author, gifted orator, Chairman of the Mathrubhumi group of publications, and has the charisma and resources to attract votes cutting across party lines. His campaign managers are hoping that this would happen when the nearly 11.02 lakh voters of Kozhikode constituency vote on May 10. Mr. Veerendrakumar had pulled off an upset win in 1996, defeating Mr. Muraleedharan by a margin of 38,703 but in 1998 lost to P. Sankaran, now Tourism Minister, by 18,657 votes. Mr. Muraleedharan won in 1999, defeating the LDF's Mr. Ibrahim with surprising ease by a margin of 50,402 votes.
Since in a close finish the votes polled by other candidates in the fray would be crucial, the performance of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate, M.T. Ramesh, would be keenly watched. A BJP candidate is yet to cross the one-lakh mark but his tally had reached 83,902. Hence, the BJP nominee is considered a force to be reckoned with. The BJP camp expects its votes to increase because of the Marad massacre, even though the LDF and the UDF campaign leaders doubt if the pro- Hindu sympathy generated by the chilling murders on May 2 last year would translate into votes in favour of the BJP in a significant measure. The other public issue that is live in the constituency is the crisis in the farm sector that has affected a large number of farmers in Wayanad and the hilly ranges in Kozhikode district. The slump in prices of farm produce such as pepper, coffee and tea have pushed a large number of families to the brink of poverty in the last few years. What remains to be seen is whether the LDF campaign that the policies of the State and Central Governments were the cause of their misery would motivate voters to elect the LDF. Infam and the more aggressive Farmers' Relief Forum are two agencies that have been vocal in articulating the demands of farmers. A.C. Varkey, chairman of the Farmers' Relief Forum, has already announced he would be a candidate. However, Infam is yet to finalise its stand on elections and has been content to make vague statements that its supporters would vote for `pro-farmer candidates'. The election is still a month away. The electorate, when it was last revised on February 10, consisted of 11,01,417 voters. Women outnumber men by 5,65,6611 to 5,35,795. The highest number of voters is in Bathery Assembly segment_ 1,82,533, and the lowest in Kozhikode_ 1,36,338. Only in the next few weeks will electioneering move into full swing, although Mr. Veerendrakumar has already covered his constituency a couple of times. The UDF campaign leaders have started setting up committees but are called upon often to undertake fire-fighting measures to put out fires of discontent among the party cadre.
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