Kerala - Kochi   

Kothamangalam keeps both fronts guessing

K. A. Martin

The Left Front is optimistic and is expecting a wave in its favour

KOCHI: As another round of Assembly elections approach, people in the `Gateway to the high ranges,' as Kothamangalam has come to be known, are keeping both the political Fronts guessing. Known as a United Democratic Front (UDF) bastion, the constituency had a Left representative only once since its formation in 1965.

That was way back in 1967 when T.M. Meethiyan of the CPI(M) won by a handsome margin. Since then, the story has been one of either the Congress or Kerala Congress candidates, including former Irrigation minister, T.M. Jacob, cantering home.

None other than the founder-chairman of the Kerala Congress, K. M. George, won the seat in 1965 — an indication of how strongly the constituency favours the Congress or its later allies.

Left Front upbeat

This time around, the mood in the Left Front is upbeat. The optimism stems from the results of the elections to the local bodies held last September in which the Front came to power in eight of the ten panchayats and in the Kothamangalam Municipality.

Besides, the Left Front leaders are convinced that there is a wave in favour of it this time and that nothing can stop it from claiming the Kothamangalam seat.

The Front is pinning a lot of hope on T. U. Kuruvilla, vice-chairman of the Kerala Congress(J), who is a well-known figure both in the socio-political and the church circles.

Sitting MLA and Congress candidate V. J. Paulose is confident and hopes the steps taken by the UDF, during its term to help farmers, will see him through.

He has represented Kothamangalam twice and is bolstered by the fact that he romped home on a margin of 12,423 votes.

Agriculture is the major source of livelihood in the constituency.

People have always turned up in large numbers to vote. In the last Assembly elections, the turnout was 72.54 per cent while in 1996, it was 73.77 pc, a significant drop from the highest turnout of 83.67 pc in 1977.

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