The Hindu : Kerala News : Ideological, communal issues to the fore

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Apr 26, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

Ideological, communal issues to the fore

By K. Santhosh

THRISSUR, APRIL 25. Two weeks ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the three major contestants in the Thrissur constituency are striving to invigorate a lethargic electorate, raising hot-button issues.

Political rhetoric is being dished out by the truckload and attempts are under way to mobilise voter support along ideological and communal lines. The incumbent, A. C. Jose of the Congress, is into the third phase of campaigning, visiting offices, shops and business establishments. Earlier, he had visited religious groups and leaders, public institutions and panchayats. About 150 public meetings are being planned across the constituency from April 27 to May 7, in the final phase. The `Navodhana Yatra' being taken out by the Chief Minister, A. K. Antony, is expected to give a boost to Mr. Jose' campaign which is managed by Therambil Ramakrishnan, MLA.

The main plank of the United Democratic Front (UDF) campaign is the formation of a Government committed to secular ideals. Mr. Jose also tries to drive home the point that the Left is "irrelevant in the Kerala polls, as it supports the national leadership of the Congress''. The sitting MP seeks to burnish his leadership credentials and administrative achievements, claiming to have spent 95 per cent of the development fund (Rs. 11 crores) allotted. He claims to have implemented drinking water supply projects worth Rs. 3.5 crores, sanctioned computers to 149 schools, started anganvadis in villages, improved facilities at the Thrissur railway station, established a Doordarshan production centre in the district and set up a reading room-cum-library at the Viyyur Central Jail. He also claims to have played a major role in executing telecom schemes worth Rs. 70 crores that focussed on enhanced connectivity to rural areas.

He promises to initiate a project to solve the water shortage in Thrissur should he win. Under the project, water will be pumped from Chimmini to Peechi, desilted and stored. He also promises to construct a road that would link National Highway 17 and 47, develop Poonkunnam as a satellite railway station and repair village ponds. The biggest advantage to Mr. Jose may be the support of the Christian community, which constitutes about 25 per cent of the total number of voters (9,77,983) and is concentrated in Ollur, Thrissur town, Manalur and certain areas of Cherpu and Kodakara. The UDF may also draw Muslim votes from the Guruvayur-Nattika-Manalur belt.

Though they slog it out at in-house meetings, Congress leaders maintain a semblance of unity as elections near. So, you come across the Karunakaran loyalist, P. P. George, rubbing shoulders with Mr. Jose, as the candidate files nomination papers. Mr. Jose belongs to the `A' group, but has not been on good terms with many other leaders of the faction. "All these problems have been solved,'' Mr. Jose claims. The crisis in the district unit had deepened with the local body elections, in which the `I' group forged an alliance with the Communist Party of India (Marxist), controversies over the post of the Mayor and the problems trigged by the Deputy Mayoral election.

The infighting has taken its toll on the party's campaign. Many booth-level units are yet to be activated. And it is next to impossible to bring the warring ranks together.

Unlike the UDF, the Left Democratic Front (LDF) has run a planned and disciplined campaign. The veteran Communist Party of India (CPI) leader, C. K. Chandrappan, who is the candidate, has finished three rounds of visits to the seven Assembly segments. About 900 minor public meetings, 52 rallies and several cultural shows by four party troupes are on the cards, according to the campaign manager, K. P. Rajendran, MLA.

The Thripura Chief Minister, Manik Sarkar, would address a function here on April 26. The CPI national general secretary, A. B. Bardhan, would take part in a meeting here on May 5. Young activists are spearheading 52 `jathas' across the constituency. The LDF is pulling out all the stops for wooing women voters, who constitute 53.7 per cent of the electorate. Women's squads would visit at least 1 lakh homes by May 7, Mr. Rajendran says.

The LDF spent a lot of time identifying new voters and getting them enrolled, and expects a good percentage of votes in this category, Mr. Rajendran adds. Five `Kudumbayogams' (meetings) are being held at each booth, where local issues such as drinking water shortage, problems in the agriculture sector and anomalies in the below-poverty-line list are discussed.

The bigger public meetings and election rallies discuss issues such as "communal hatred allegedly instigated by the Sangh Parivar, the anti-people policies of the UDF Government and the escalating crisis in the agriculture sector''.

Like Mr. Jose, Mr. Chandrappan too is not a resident of Thrissur. The sitting MP has made his presence felt over the past five years, but Mr. Chandrappan is totally new to the constituency. And this, political observers say, may work to the LDF candidate's disadvantage.

Like the LDF, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) campaign too has been well-organised, with the active participation of the other Parivar partners. With strategic planning to woo Hindu votes, citing the achievements of the Atal Behari Vajpayee Government and issues such as Marad, the NDA tries to improve its performance.

The candidate, P. S. Sreeraman, who is the BJP district president, has held election meetings and visited key areas in all Assembly segments. His statement at a press conference here on Saturday that the BJP had put out feelers about fielding a common candidate against the Minister for Power, K. Muraleedharan, in the Wadakkanchery byelection, hinted the possibility of secret agreements in different constituencies. Such deals, involving parties, communities and religious groups, may eventually decide the outcome of elections in Thrissur, just as they do elsewhere.

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