The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Stiff battle in the offing

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Apr 10, 2006

Kerala

Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Stiff battle in the offing

T.Nandakumar

Palode Ravi is fighting to regain the seat from Mangode

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The stage is set for a stiff electoral battle in the Nedumangad constituency as the rival candidates prepare to launch the first leg of the campaign tour. UDF nominee Palode Ravi of the Congress is fighting to regain the seat from sitting MLA Mangode Radhakrishnan (CPI) who scraped through with a narrow margin of 156 votes in the 2001 elections. As the BJP tries to carve out a bigger vote share, the campaign is fast assuming the contours of a three-cornered contest.

Both Mr. Ravi and Mr. Radhakrishnan have lost to each other once in previous contests. While Mr. Radhakrishnan went down to Mr. Ravi in 1996, he won the next battle in 2001, scuppering his rival's chance of scoring a hat-trick. Both camps are leaving nothing to chance in their bid to sway the electorate.

The Nedumangad constitutency has been represented by the Congress only thrice in the history of the Kerala Legislative Assembly since 1957. Except in 1965, 1991 and 96, the electorate has remained loyal to the CPI.

With Mr. Radhakrishnan confined to hospital with injuries sustained in a recent accident, Mr. Ravi has had an early start in the campaign. The LDF camp is depending on its well-oiled campaign machinery to make up for the physical absence of their candidate. Campaign managers of the CPI hope that Mr. Radhakrishnan would make it in time for the campaign tour, albeit with his leg in plaster.

The Nedumangad Assembly constituency comprises the Aanad, Panavur, Vembayam, Karakulam, Aruvikkara and Vellanad grama panchayats and the Nedumangad municipality, all controlled by the LDF. In the local body elections held last year, the LDF wrested the Aanad and Panavur panchayats from the UDF with the support of the DIC(K).

A member of the CPI district executive, Mr. Radhakrishnan entered politics through the students movement. He was the district president of the AISF. The LDF camp is confident that the development works initiated by Mr. Radhakrishnan over the last five years would help it improve the margin of victory. It is also banking on support from the minority communities. Another factor adding up to the LDF's optimistic calculations is the 6,000- plus lead secured in the Lok Sabha byelections last year.

A prominent trade union leader, Mr. Ravi entered politics through the KSU. He served as the district president of the INTUC for 25 years and has been a national working committee member of the trade union since 2001. He is also a member of the AICC and the KPCC executive committee.

Mr. Ravi's campaign directors are confident that the voters would not let down the UDF this time. They point out that the coalition had lost by a wafer-thin margin in the recent elections to local bodies and Parliament. The UDF campaign is pegged on the slump in development activities over the last five years.

The BJP camp is buoyed by the newfound unity in its ranks and the full backing of the Sangh Parivar outfits. A lawyer by profession, the party nominee Subramanian Potti is also an RSS activist. "The BJP has overcome the organisational problems that caused a setback in last year's local body elections. Our campaign has struck a responsive chord in the public," he says. The BJP campaign is focussing on the party's strongholds in the first phase.

The electorate in Nedumangad has a strength of 1,66,567, with female voters numbering 87,879.

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