The Kollam Lok Sabha constituency has set the stage for one of the fiercest fights in this general election. The seat is a prestigious for both the CPM-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the United Democratic Front (UDF). No wonder both the fronts have put up their best candidates for Kollam.
While sitting MP N K Premachandran has received the Sansad Ratna Award for his performance in the Lok Sabha in 2017, CPM candidate K N Balagopal has won the award for his performance as a Rajya Sabha member. The adversaries once belonged to the same camp, with Premachandran representing the RSP in the cabinet headed by V S Achuthanandan and Balagopal serving as a political secretary to the chief minister.
Curiously, both Premachandran and Balagopal are “outsiders” to Kollam. The people of Kollam has a reputation for welcoming leaders from outside the district as their own.
The trend started with N Sreekandan Nair, the RSP leader from Ambalappuzha who represented Kollam in the Lok Sabha for five terms. Congress leader S Krishna Kumar, who served as the Kollam MP for three terms, was originally from Thiruvananthapuram. In fact, Kollam voters have elected a candidate from a neighbouring district in all but one of the 16 elections so far.
Kollam is also associated with the RSP, electing a party representative to more than half of the Lok Sabhas convened so far. The Congress has won the seat five times.
Premachandran’s tryst with Kollam started when he was selected as a successor to Sreekandan Nair. He held the seat for two terms until ally CPM took over the seat in 1999. The CPM won the 1999 and 2004 elections but the Congress pulled off a surprise victory in 2009.
Denied a seat for a fourth time, Premachandran and other disgruntled RSP workers parted ways with the LDF. As a UDF candidate, he defeated CPM politburo member M A Baby in the 2014 election.
While CPM relied on state secretariat member Balagopal to challenge Premachandran, the BJP has fielded K V Sabu, the national secretary of its Minorities Morcha.
The fight between Balagopal and Premachandran is reflected intensively on social media. CPM leaders believe Balagopal is an ideal candidate to wrest the seat, with even the communal equations running in his favour. His stint as the party district secretary helps him to connect easily with the organisation across the constituency. The campaign is personally monitored by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
The CPM machinery is particularly aiming at Premachandran. He was even accused of harbouring an affinity to Sangh Parivar. CPM, which was peeved at the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to inaugurate a national highway bypass at Kollam, suspects that Premachandran pulled strings to eclipse the Kerala chief minister.
The UDF is keeping a vigil to guard against any onslaught on the votes of Premachandran. The front is employing an array of weapons including its stand on the Sabarimala agitation against women’s entry into the temple. The crisis in the traditional cashew sector and the misery in the coastal areas are sure to be campaign issues.
The CPM has no want of confidence. The LDF vote records in the assembly and local body elections are encouraging.
The BJP candidate is a seasoned fighter too. Sabu has run for the Kerala Legislative assembly from Piravom in 2006, Thripoonithura in 2011 and to the Lok Sabha from Chalakkudy in 2009 and Idukki in 2014. The National Democratic Alliance expects to reap from the sentiments triggered by the Sabarimala order and the increase in its votes share in the local body election.