Saji Cherian (CPM), D Vijayakumar (Congress) and Sreedharan Pillai (BJP) are in the fray in Chengannur.Chengannur’s politics is as unpredictable as the course of the River Pampa. The three political formations have much to worry when they hit the poll trail in the peak of summer.
The assembly byelection in Chengannur is keenly watched across the country because the Communist Party of India- Marxist (CPM), the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are fighting each other.
The CPM-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) has to retain the seat to prove that the government it leads enjoys the people’s confidence.
The Congress has to wrest the seat back from the LDF to show that it is back in the game after the rout of 2016.
The BJP too has a do-or-die situation in Kerala. The party is in a strange situation with its surprise victory in the Northeast eclipsed by setbacks in Lok Sabha byelections in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
Chengannur has been a launchpad for many leaders. It has also seen veterans biting the dust. The constituency is a microcosm of Kerala, with every community finding representation here.
The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) has won eight of the 13 elections from the constituency so far, while the LDF won five times.
The Congress, the CPM, the CPI, the Kerala Congress, Congress-S and the NDP have all tried their luck in the constituency.
A three-cornered fight is nothing new for Chengannur, where three prominent candidates fought it out in 1967, 1982 and 2016.
The byelection was necessitated by the death of sitting MLA K K Ramachandran Nair, who helped the CPM break the hat-trick spree off Congress leader P C Vishnunath in 2016. Nair scored 52,880 votes, while Vishnunath scored only 44,897 votes. BJP’s P S Sreedharan Pillai won 42,282 votes to shock both the rival fronts.
The Congress has deputed KPCC executive committee member D Vijayakumar to wrest the seat back from the LDF.
A local resident, Vijayakumar, was almost chosen as the Congress candidate in 1991. The UDF expects to cash in on his elaborate personal connections across the constituency.
The CPM does not want to take any chances. It has fielded its district secretary Saji Cherian, who has an active presence across the district with varied activities including palliative care.
Sreedharan Pillai was a natural choice for the BJP after his performance last time that increased the party’s vote share seven times. Pillai’s personal votes are expected to add to the momentum created by the BJP in the national level.
The byelection is special because the major contenders are home-grown leaders.
The BJP, however, will have a tough time with ally Bharat Dharma Jana Sena taking a belligerent position. The Congress has its own worries too. Former ally Kerala Congress is yet to reveal its cards.
Warhorses
Saji Cherian, aged 53, rose up the CPM rungs to be the Alappuzha district secretary after his stints in the SFI and the DYFI. He has worked as the Chengannur area committee secretary for eight years.
He was elevated as the district secretary in 2014. He has served as the district panchayat standing committee president, Chengannur block panchayat president and the district sports council president.
He is also the chairman of the Karuna Pain and Palliative Care.
D Vijayakumar, aged 65, is an advocate practising in Chengannur. He started his public life as a student leader with the KSU.
He pursued a post-graduation in political science from the Jabalpur University and an LLB degree. He served as the Chengannur block president and the Alappuzha district secretary of the Youth Congress before serving in the district Congress committee between 1979 and 1992.
He is now the president of the Chengannur Karshika Grama Vikasana Bank and the national vice-chariman of the Akhila Bharat Ayyappa Seva Sangham.
P S Sreedharan Pillai, aged 64, is BJP’s former state president and a member of the national executive council. This is his second contest to the Kerala Legislative Assembly.
He has unsuccessfully contested to the Lok Sabha from Kozhikode. A prominent lawyer and the author of a hundred books in English and Malayalam, Pillai has served as a managing editor of party organ Janmabhoomi.
He is a regular columnist and works with several sports organizations.
