Chalakudy, which has a special place in the annals of Kerala's history, lies in the heart of central Kerala. The locale gained great historical importance after Tipu Sultan, who was a ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore, set up his battery downstream of Chalakudy river as he was priming to go further south into Travancore territory.
Incidentally, Chalakudy is also the birth place of many Congress stalwarts like Panampilly Govinda Menon who perfected the art of lampooning political rivals, especially the left parties, and drew crowds with their acerbic oratorical skills.
From Panampilly to Innocent
It is a known fact that during his brief stint as the Union Minister for Law and Railways, Panampilly was held in great esteem and commanded the respect of officials at the Central Secretariat in Delhi. He was also the political mentor of K Karunakaran. Though the protégé was not a powerful orator as his mentor, his political and administrative acumen as well as his leadership qualities were second to none.
Karunakaran made his parliamentary debut from Mukundapuram in 1999, which later became an assembly segment in the newly formed Chalakudy constituency. However, in the 2004 elections, his daughter Padmaja Venugopal tasted defeat at the hands of Lonappan Nambadan.
In 2009, K P Dhanapalan of Congress won the maiden election after Mukundapuram was dissolved to form the Chalakudy parliament constituency.
Thereafter, the Left Democratic Front-backed independent candidate Innocent won the election in 2014, defeating Congress's P C Chacko who opted out of Thrissur, which he won in 2009, to shift his base to Chalakudy. The journey from Panampilly to Innocent sums up the transformation witnessed by Chalakudy's political landscape over the years.
A traditional UDF stronghold
Chalakudy has been a strong UDF bastion during the five decades when the constituency was known as Mukundapuram. Those who defeated Congress's candidates were ‘surprise guests' such as Lonappan Nambadan and Innocent. The fact that the front led by the Congress has won 12 out of the 16 elections so far underlines the substantial electoral influence the party wields in the constituency.
It is palpable that internal rift within the ranks of Congress was the reason for its four defeats in Mukundapuram and Chalakudy in the past. Factional feud had reared its ugly head in the previous election too which resulted in the unexpected defeat of P C Chacko. The Congress rebels in Chalakudy were well prepared to ensure Chacko's fall right from the moment his candidacy was announced.
Of the seven segments in this constituency, four – Perumbavoor, Angamaly, Aluva and Kunnathunad – were won by the UDF in the 2016 assembly polls, while Kaipamangalam, Chalakuddy, and Kodungallur went to the LDF. Notably, the majority of all the LDF candidates was over 20,000.
Innocent seeks a second term
Innocent was the star attraction among candidates in Kerala during the last Lok Sabha elections. The LDF's ploy to bank on the popularity of the ace comedian who had audience in splits in several super hit movies, reaped electoral dividends as Innocent laughed his way to the Lok Sabha with a comfortable margin of 13,884 votes.
The LDF has retained him as its candidate and this time around he will be contesting on the party symbol. That means the voters in Chalakudy will be weighing up Innocent the party man in this election. The 71-year-old, who hails from a family that nurtured strong Communist inclinations and connections, started his political journey through the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) and was elected as a municipal councillor from Irinjalakuda in 1979.
Benny Behanan, an ideal choice
The Congress candidate, Benny Behanan, is a prominent member among the second-generation leaders from the Congress who succeed the likes of A K Antony and Vayalar Ravi. He became the state president of the Kerala Students Union (KSU) in 1978 and successfully contested assembly elections from Piravom in 1982 and Thrikkakara in 2011. He was also the president of Thrissur District Congress Committee for many years.
Often described as the moderate face of the Congress in Kerala, Benny is a staunch A group loyalist, but he is among the very few consensus candidates who has the backing of all the factions of the state unit. Something that is easier said than done in Kerala's faction-ridden Congress. Being the UDF convener, his victory is a matter of prestige for the party as well.
BJP has high hopes
In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, BJP's B Gopalakrishnan had polled 92,848 votes, which is a huge jump from the 45,367 votes the party could manage in 2009. That is the reason why the saffron party decided to field A N Radhakrishnan, one of its state general secretaries, in Chalakudy.
The 59-year-old Radhakrishnan, who started his political career as a full-time RSS volunteer in Kannur, went on become the BJP Ernakulum district president, state general secretary and a national council member. He has high connections in Chalakudy cutting across party and community affiliations.
When the BJP shifted its agitation to lift prohibitory orders in Sabarimala from the pilgrimage centre to the Secretariat gate, Radhakrishnan observed a 10-day hunger strike and helped the party keep the issue alive. He was also the Kerala coordinator of L K Advani's Bharat Uday Yatra in 2004.
A battle between Ernakulum and Thrissur
It is evident that one issue would dominate electioneering in Chalakudy: the August deluge during which the swollen Chalakudy river breached banks and floodwaters surged through thousands of houses in the area.
The devastating floods swallowed large swathes of farm land in Chalakudy and surrounding places and rendered hundreds homeless. Many of the victims are still confined to the depressing interiors of relief camps in various parts of Thrissur and Ernakulam districts. The trail of destruction and misery left behind by the flood in Chalakudy town can still be felt.
There are serious allegations that the authorities were going slow on rehabilitation and reconstruction activities in areas that bore the brunt of the catastrophe. The government had announced a compensation of Rs 4 lakh each to people who lost their homes, and Rs 6 lakh to those who lost both their homes and properties, but several families in Chalakudy are yet to receive the promised amount.
The stance of the Nair Service Society (NSS) will be decisive in deciding the outcome of Lok Sabha polls in Chalakudy. Mukundapuram, the organisation's largest taluk union, is situated in the Chalakudy constituency. Its political stand on the Sabarimala women entry issue is expected to make a critical difference to the fortunes of the three main candidates. The election will also be a test of might between Thrissur and Ernakulam districts, that are generally viewed as fortes of the LDF and the UDF respectively.
Innocent's progress report
The LDF claims that the constituency has received development works worth Rs 1,750 crore over the past five years. Funds amounting to Rs 1,200 crore were allocated for basic infrastructure projects alone.
Innocent has been able to ensure an effective and well-organised office system to monitor the progress of development works initiated by him. The progress report published by him showcases some of his major achievements such as the technology centre in Angamaly, a first of its kind in Kerala, Ayush hospital in Chalakudy, and the free cancer detection units.
Will that be enough to ensure a second term for him? We will have to wait till May 23 to know that.
