Kerala - Pathanamthitta   

Overcast poll scene in Aranmula

Radhakrishnan Kuttoor

LDF fields CITU leader to take on DIC(K) stalwart

PATHANAMTHITTA: The political sky in the United Democratic Front (UDF) stronghold of Aranmula appears to be overcast with resentment in the Congress camp over the allocation of the seat to the Democratic Indira Congress (Karunakaran).

Added to this is the `anti-incumbency factor' facing Malethu Saraladevi, MLA, who joined the DIC(K) following the split in the Congress a year ago.

The Left Democratic Front (LDF) has fielded Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) district secretary K.C. Rajagopal in an effort to recapture the constituency which it lost in the 2001 elections. The CPI(M) sees Mr. Rajagopal, 55, better known as KCR among party cadres, the best bet for Aranmula.

The Bharatiya Janata Party has fielded its district secretary Asokan Kulanada, a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leader.

The constituency comprises the grama panchayat limits of Aranmula, Ayroor, Thottappuzhaserry, Koipram, Kulanada and Mezhuveli in Pathanamthitta district and the Mulakkuzha panchayat limits in Alappuzha district. There are 1,11,534 voters as on February 27.

The constituency was first represented by Malethu Gopinatha Pillai, Ms. Saraladevi's brother, who contested on the Congress ticket in the first Assembly election held in 1957. Mr. Pillai had won the subsequent elections in 1960. N. Bhaskaran Nair who contested on the Congress ticket was elected in the next election in 1965. The Communist Party of India (Marxist)-backed Independent Chandrasenan won the seat in 1967 and 1970. The Congress candidate and Karunakaran loyalist K.K. Sreenivasan emerged victorious in 1980, 1982 and 1987. R. Ramachandran Nair of the National Democratic Party (NDP), which was a UDF constituent, won in 1991.

This traditional UDF bastion became the cynosure of all eyes in the 1996 election when the Communist Marxist Party (CMP) leader M.V. Raghavan lost to the CPI(M)-backed Independent and Malayalam poet Kadamanitta Ramakrishnan.

Aranmula was in the news in the 2001 elections when the Karunakaran loyalist Ms. Saraladevi revolted against the Congress decision to field the then District Congress Committee secretary K. Sivadasan Nair. Mr. Karunakaran's stand that Ms. Saraladevi be fielded ultimately made the Congress leadership to amend the list of candidates and cancel Mr. Nair's candidature.

Ms. Saraladevi, a retired school teacher and politician-cum-social worker, defeated her CPI(M) rival, A. Padmakumar, in the election.

Ms. Saraladevi says that she had stepped down following the split in the Congress after completing development projects initiated by her in the constituency, her adversaries, especially the CPI(M) and other Left parties, allege that she had pursued irresponsible politics of opportunism, sidelining the interests of the constituency. The CPI(M) is all set to exploit such sentiments, if any, among the voters.

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