Kerala - Alappuzha   

In Aroor, a novice takes on a veteran

A. Harikumar

Gouri a familiar face here, Aarif a seasoned politician

ALAPPUZHA: At 86, K.R. Gouri, Agriculture Minister and Janadhipathya Samrakshana Samithy (JSS) leader, is fighting an electoral battle on her home turf at Aroor as United Democratic Front (UDF) candidate to become a member of the State Assembly for the 13th time. Her main opponent is the 42-year-old Left Democratic Front (LDF) candidate A.M. Aarif of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), who is fighting the Assembly election for the first time. The other main candidate in the fray is N.V. Prakashan of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

It was in the elections in 1965 that Ms. Gouri, who was then a CPI(M) candidate, won from Aroor constituency for the first time. Her opponent was Devaki Krishnan of the Congress, mother of Union Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi. Ms. Gouri, whose name was then recorded as K.R. Gouri Thomas in the ballot paper, won by a margin of 4,583 votes. She won continuously from the constituency till 1977 when a pro-Congress wave swept the State after the Emergency. P.S. Sreenivasan of the CPI defeated her in that election by a margin of over 9,000 votes.

Avenging defeat

Ms. Gouri avenged her defeat in the 1980 elections when she defeated T.K. Sadanandan of the Congress. Ever since she has never tasted defeat in the constituency. The 1996 Assembly election saw Ms. Gouri, a staunch communist, contesting as the UDF candidate from the constituency after she formed the JSS following her ouster from the CPI(M). Ms. Gouri won by a record margin of over 16,000 votes then. She won the next election too, defeating K.V. Devadas of the CPI (M) though by a lesser margin.

No greenhorn

Though Mr. Aarif is a novice in Assembly elections he is a seasoned political worker who has fought many a battle as a leader of the Students' Federation of India and the Democratic Youth Federation of India in the district. He was a member of the Alappuzha district council, which is the first form of district panchayat. He had won from Arookkutty division to the district council then. Mr. Aarif is at present the Cherthala area committee secretary of the CPI(M). He is an advocate by profession.

The CPI(M) and the Congress have considerable strength in the constituency. The Democratic Indira Congress(Karunakaran) too has a good presence there. The BJP has influence in certain pockets. During the last district panchayat elections, the DIC(K) candidate K. Rajeevan contested from Pattanakkad division, which includes areas of Aroor constituency, without the support of any front and polled around 10,000 votes.

Communal equations

Ezhava community is the single largest community in the constituency. The Christians and Muslims come next. The constituency has a considerable number of Nair and Dheevara votes too. Mrs. Gouri's personal rapport with the voters of the constituency is formidable. But a section of population, which include workers in fisheries sector, in the constituency have a complaint that she always favours JSS workers and a coterie only.

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