Kerala - Kottayam   

Puthuppally likely to keep history intact

George Jacob

Lack of substance in the campaign is more than made up by high drama

KOTTAYAM: It is a contest, which got cliché-ed even before the campaigns commenced, thanks to the physical handicap suffered by the two main candidates symbolic of the chaotic electoral scene in the State. And as elsewhere, the lack of substance in the campaign is more than made up by high drama: in a direct throw back to the ancient days when communist leaders fought their electoral battles from behind the bars, the LDF candidate filed her nominations from the jail. With a dream launch in her pocket, SFI State president and LDF candidate Sindhu Joy is taking on Chief Minister and nine-time veteran Oommen Chandy at Puthuppally.

The BJP is also in the fray fielding Narayanan Namboodiri, party's district secretary. A lawyer by profession, he has earlier fought against K.M. Mani at Pala in 1991 and later against P.C. Thomas at Moovattupuzha in the 1998 Parliament elections. There are two other candidates in the fray — Thomas, Independent, and Sreeni K. Jacob fielded by BSP.

Barring two terms, Puthuppally constituency has a history of being with the Congress during the past half-a-century of its existence. These two terms, 1965 and 1967, were served by E.M. George who had contested on CPI(M) ticket. During the first two elections, in 1957 and 60, the constituency had returned P.C. Cheriyan of the Congress. From 1970 onwards, Puthuppally had no choice other than Mr. Chandy. It even swayed with Mr. Chandy during the 1980 elections when he contested on the Congress (U) ticket as part of the Left contingent.

His opponents have experimented with different types of candidates against Mr. Chandy. Veterans, youngsters, former colleagues, and those from various communities were placed against him, but Mr. Chandy had succeeded in coming out victorious every time. This is for the first time the LDF is experimenting with a woman candidate.

In fact, Sindhu Joy is the first woman candidate fielded by either of the main fronts. Her agitations as a student leader and the dramatic events that preceded the filing of nominations are sure to give her an unprecedented advantage other candidates had lacked. In addition, being a charismatic youth leader, she would be able to bring forth the youth power to her campaign. She is also banking on the women voters who constitute 50.78 per cent of 1,52,169 voters in the constituency.

The constituency registered split voting pattern for Parliament, Assembly and local bodies elections. The same electorate who sent Mr. Chandy to the Assembly with a majority of 12,575 votes in 2001, gave a majority of 4,995 votes (in Puthuppally segment) to K. Suresh Kurup (CPI-M) in the Parliament elections which followed. Out of the eight grama panchayats in the constituency, Pampady, Panachikkad, Puthuppally, Pallickathode, Akalakunnam and Ayarkunnam are with the UDF with the remaining two, Meenadom and Kooroppada, going the LDF way during last panchayat elections.

The community profile of the constituency is highly fragmented, with no community registering big enough presence to ensure anyone's victory, though almost all of them have the clout to help someone's defeat.

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