Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Neck-and-neck poll battle on the cards

G. Anand

Shine of JSS takes on Arundhathi of the CPI(M)

Thiruvananthapuram: The stage is set for a fierce electoral battle in Vamanapuram constituency in Thiruvananthapuram district.

In the forefront of the fray are J. Arundhathi of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and S. Shine of the Janathipathya Samrakshana Samithi (JSS).

S. Anil Kumar, a former Congress leader who was till recently associated with the Democratic Indira Congress (Karunakaran), is standing as an Independent candidate after rebelling against the United Democratic Front's (UDF) decision to field Mr. Shine.

Damodaran Potty of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a veteran from the days of the Jana Sangh, is also in the contest.

The Left combine has never really let go of Vamanapuram constituency after wresting it from the Congress in 1977. However, the road to victory has not always been easy.

Electoral contests have time and again been uphill battles for the LDF in Vamanapuram. The victory margins of LDF candidates have often been precariously thin. A slender margin of 1,609 votes saw Pirappancode Murali struggle to victory over his nearest rival, Mr. Shine, in the 2001 elections. (The polling percentage was 68.45 per cent and a total of 1,09,704 votes were cast). .

The number of voters in Vamanapuram constituency has come down from 1,60,262 in 2001 to 1,44,521 in 2006. Ninety eight per cent of the voters have been issued electoral identity cards.

The local body elections in 2005 saw the LDF come to power in six of the eight grama panchayats in Vamanapuram. Hence, it is with boosted confidence that Ms. Arundhathi of the LDF is bracing for the electoral battle.

Ms. Arundhathi made her foray into electoral politics in 1991 when she contested and won the district council elections from Nandiyode division. In 1995, she was elected to the district panchayat from Peringanmala division. She was the Nedumangad block panchayat president in 2000. The history graduate entered politics as an activist of the Students Federation of India (SFI).

Ms. Arundhathi's rival, Mr. Shine of the UDF, also comes from the cradle of SFI politics. He parted ways with the CPI (M) when K.R. Gouri was expelled from the party in 1994. Mr. Shine, an advocate, is one of the founder members of the JSS. The UDF is confident that Mr. Shine can win the seat, which he had lost by a slender margin in 2001.

The UDF's decision to give the Vamanapuram seat to the JSS had not gone down too well with certain sections of Congress workers in the constituency. The UDF rebel Mr. Anil Kumar would look forward to exploiting the alleged resentment among Congress workers to pose a serious threat to the electoral prospects of Mr. Shine, in particular, and the other candidates in general.

The DIC (K) has a strong presence in Vamanapuram. The party had won 13 seats in the last local body elections. DIC (K) members are vice-presidents in two block panchayats in the constituency. Mr. Anil Kumar's camp is also hoping to turn to their electoral advantage the considerable clout the Independent candidate enjoys among DIC (K) workers in the constituency.

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