Kerala - Kozhikode   

Battle lines drawn for polls in Kozhikode district

Biju Govind

Koduvally, Beypore to witness tough fights

Kozhikode: Battle lines have been drawn for the elections from the 12 Assembly constituencies in the district, which goes to polls on April 29. Candidates are busy filing nomination papers, while parties have started campaigning in the constituencies.

Some of the constituencies in the district are to be keenly watched in view of the new political equations after the Democratic Indira Congress-Karunakaran (DIC-K) striking an electoral pact with the United Democratic Front (UDF). Strong undercurrents will mar the fortunes of many candidates, especially in the traditional strongholds of both fronts.

Constituencies in the district usually favour the Left Democratic Front (LDF), considering the outcome of the elections in the last several years. Even during the height of the United Democratic Front (UDF) wave in the 2001 elections, the LDF managed to capture half the seats. This time, front leaders hope to increase its tally, as it did in 1996 by winning 10 of the 12 seats.

At the same time, UDF poll managers are devising strategies to keep their pack together and not let the DIC(K) and the Congress pull the rug from under the feet of each other.

The Koduvally constituency, where DIC(K) State president K. Muraleedharan is contesting against the LDF-supported Independent P.T.A. Rahim, a former district-level leader of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), sees one of the important contests in the district. It is the second time Mr. Muraleedharan is fighting the Assembly elections. The first was on the Congress ticket in the byelection from the Vadakkancherry constituency in Thrissur district, where he was trounced.

Koduvally has never elected an LDF candidate in recent times. In the 2001 elections, the IUML candidate, C. Mamootty, won by a margin of 17,000 votes against his nearest LDF rival, C. Mohasin, who had contested unsuccessfully in 1996 and 1991.

Another key constituency that expects a tough contest is Beypore, traditionally an LDF bastion. But the IUML candidate, Ummer Pandikasala, is likely to give a tough fight to the CPI(M) candidate, Elamaram Kareem, who faced defeat at the hands of the League candidate, T.P.M. Zahir, in the Kozhikode II constituency in 2001. However, Mr. Kareem had won the elections from that constituency in 1996. Mr. Ummer is contesting the elections for the second time from Beypore, which has the highest number of voters in the district. Mr. Zahir, who won the elections with a slender margin of 787 votes, is in the fray this time also. The LDF has given the ticket to the Indian National League.

Kozhikode I will also witness a tough contest between Minister for Forests and Environment A. Sujanapal and Democratic Youth Federation of India State secretary A. Pradeepkumar. In the last Assembly elections, Mr. Sujanapal defeated the CPI(M) leader P. Sathidevi by a margin of 8,377 votes.

Traditional rivals are meeting at Koyilandy constituency. The DIC(K) leader P. Sankaran will contest against P. Viswan, who represented the constituency after the 1996 elections. Similarly, the CPI(M) leader C.P. Balan Vaidyar, who had represented the reserved Kunnamangalam constituency, will take on U.C. Raman, MLA.

Mathai Chacko, who shifted his constituency from Meppayur to Thiruvambady, is pitted against the IUML candidate, M.C. Mayin Haji, in this traditional UDF constituency. The CPI(M) has fielded K.K. Lalitha at Meppayur.

Kozhikode District Congress Committee president M. Veerankutty will fight it out against Binoy Viswom, MLA, of the CPI at Nadapuram.

Vadakara, Perambra and Balussery have gone in favour of LDF candidates in recent times. However, Balussery is likely to witness a tough fight with the Congress leader Balakrishna Kidavu preparing for the race a second time.

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