Thrissur: The Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency is a giant killer. Voters in Thrissur have rejected such tall leaders as K Karunakaran and his son K Muraleedharan. The constituency defies predictions.
The parliamentary constituency comprises seven assembly segments: Thrissur, Guruvayur, Nattika, Manalur, Ollur, Irinjalakuda and Puthukkad. The rest of the Thrissur district is spread over the Alathur and Chalakkudy Lok Sabha constituencies.
The CPI has won 10 of the 16 elections held since 1951, the Congress winning only six times. After the delimitation of 2008, the constituency stood by the United Democratic Front in 2009 and the Left Democratic Front in 2014.
As usual, the CPI will fight the election for the Left Democratic Front this time. Thrissur is one of the few remaining strongholds of the CPI, which has even beat the CPM in the elections of 1971 and 1977.
The CPI has an advantage this time as the party has already announced its candidate ahead of its rivals. Sitting MP C N Jayadevan has given way for Rajaji Mathew Thomas. Jayadevan might have pulled some strings to deny senior leader K P Rajendran an opportunity to become his successor.
Thomas has represented the Ollur constituency in the Kerala Legislative Assembly from 2006 to 2011. He is currently a member of the CPI state council and the editor of party mouthpiece Janayugam.
The Congress lost the Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency largely due to infighting within the party. Though P C Chacko had defeated Jayadevan in 2009, he refused to contest from the constituency in 2014, forcing the Congress high command to shift K P Dhanapalan from Chalakkudy to Thrissur. State leaders of the party later admitted before senior leaders that they were responsible for swapping candidates between Chalakkudi and Thrissur and losing both seats.
The factionalism in the Congress is pronounced in Thrissur, accentuating the need for a candidate who is acceptable to all groups. Chacko and Dhanapalan do not seem to be keen on trying their luck in Thrissur for one more time.
Former KPCC president V M Sudheeran and Thrissur DCC president T N Prathapan are probable candidates. If Sudheeran is ready for the fight, the party may not have a second thought. If he chooses another constituency, Prathapan may be the candidate for Thrissur.
The BJP might field K Surendran in Thrissur. Union minister Alphons Kannanthanam is another probable candidate.