Expecting winds of change in Kozhikode, parties spin surprising poll formulas

Kozhikode loves to experiment, whether it be in its famed cuisine or politics. The district is home to strange inventions that range from chicken halwa to fried ice cream and the ‘Beypore model’ alliance of the Congress, the BJP and the Muslim League to the ‘Vatakara model’ partnership of the Congress and the Revolutionary Marxist Party.

The current assembly election has thrown up its own experiments. The Muslim League is experimenting with a Congress candidate in a seat allotted to it. The Congress has brought in a comedian to represent it. Their alliance has backed an independent industrialist elsewhere. More importantly, the Muslim League has its first woman candidate in 25 years.

The CPM is also carrying out its tested experiments of storming Muslim League strongholds piggybacking on influential dissidents. The CPM also did the unthinkable when it offered to change its official candidate when faced with stiff protests from its own cadre.

Kozhikode usually favours the Left Democratic Front in assembly elections. The front won 10 of the 13 assembly seats in the district even in 2011 when the Congress-led United Democratic Front won the state election and formed a government. The LDF won 11 seats in 2016, but trailed in all 13 assembly segments in the Lok Sabha election of 2019. The front has since clawed back, going by the lead it received in 10 seats in the local body elections of 2020.

The Congress has not won an assembly seat from the Kozhikode district since 2001, when A Sujanapal was elected from Kozhikode North and P Sankaran was elected from Koyilandi. Both of them were picked as ministers in the UDF government.

The Congress wants to break out of the 20-year drought in Kozhikode. KPCC general secretaries K Praveen Kumar is contesting from Nadapuram, N Subramanian from Koyilandi and P M Niyaz from Beypore. KSU state president K M Abhijit is the party’s candidate in Kozhikode North. The Congress is pinning its hopes on actor Dharmajan Bolgatty to wrest Balussery where it has not won any election since 1970.

The CPM is fighting the election from seven seats but minister T P Ramakrishnan is the only one to face re-election. Four sitting MLAs, including A Pradeep Kumar, is out of the fray to comply with party norms. The party has fielded DYFI national president P A Muhammed Riyaz in Beypore and SFI state secretary K M Sachin Dev in Balusseri. District panchayat president Kanathil Jameela is the party candidate in Koyilandi. Koodaranji panchayat president Linto Joseph is the candidate in Tiruvambadi. Kozhikode North has former city mayor Thottathil Raveendran as the CPM candidate.

The LDF seeks to repeat its successful experiment in Koduvally and Kunnamangalam by backing former Muslim League leaders Karat Razak and P T A Rahim once again. Minister A K Saseendran will be the NCP candidate in Elathur while CPI’s E K V Jayan will contest from Nadapuram. INL’s Ahmed Devarkovil in Kozhikode South and LJD’s Manayath Chandran in Vatakara complete the LDF list in the district.

The front hopes to wrest Kuttiadi and Kozhikode South from the UDF this time. At the same time, it is prepared to lose some of its sitting seats. The return of the Loktantrik Janata Dal to the alliance might help it gather votes in Kozhikode district.

Muslim League surprises

The Muslim League candidate list is full of surprises. The party has picked a woman candidate for the first time in 25 years. Party’s national general secretary Noorbina Rasheed has replaced M K Muneer as candidate in Kozhikode South. Muneer has been deputed to take back neighbouring Koduvally which was lost to internal problems in the party. The Muslim League has backed Congress leader Dinesh Perumanna as an independent in Kunnamangalam. This is perhaps the first time that the Muslim League has given its turf to a candidate from the majority community, though it has fielded non-Muslims earlier.

In Perambra, businessman and social activist C H Ibrahim Kutty is the Muslim League’s choice as candidate. C P Cheriya Muhammed, a former teachers’ union leader, and Parakkal Abdulla MAL contest from Tiruvambadi and Kuttiyadi, respectively.

The BJP plan

The BJP has not allotted any seat in the district to its allies, though the Bharat Dharma Jana Sena had contested in three seats last time. The BJP’s focus is on Kohikode North where party state general secretary M T Ramesh is the candidate, Kunnamangalam where party district president V K Sajeevan is the candidate and Beypore where party state secretary P K Prakash Babu is the candidate.

It also expects to gain ground in Elathur, where the UDF suffered due to a schism caused by disputes related to rival claims to candidature. BJP area president T P Jayachandran is the party candidate in Elathur. Navya Haridas in Kozhikode South, M Rajesh Kumar in Vatakara, K V Sudheer in Perambra, Libin Bhaskar in Balusseri, N P Radhakrishnan in Koyilandi, Baby Ambatt in Tiruvambadi, T Balasoman in Koduvally, M P Rajan in Nadapuram and P P Murali in Kuttiadi are the other BJP candidates in the district.

Vatakara case study

When the UDF throws its full weight behind K K Rama in Vatakara, the opposition front has a clear eye on putting the CPM in the defensive about the murder of former leader T P Chandrasekharan. The alliance has been beneficial to both the UDF and the Rama’s RMP. They now control three local bodies in Vatakara.

Rama garnered 20,504 votes in Vatakara in 2016 when she opposed both the LDF and the UDF. LDF’s C K Nanu won by 9511 votes. The UDF expects the alliance with RMP in Vatakara to benefit it in neighbouring constituencies of Kuttiadi and Nadapuram.

The Kuttiadi conflict

Both the CPM and the Congress faced stiff opposition from their own cadres in Kozhikode district over allocating sitting seats to allies. The CPM had to take the Kuttiadi seat back from the Kerala Congress (M) after party workers hit the streets in protest. District secretariat member K P Kunjammad Kutty was picked as the CPM candidate as per the wishes of the workers.

In Elathur, the Congress landed in similar troubles when it granted the seat to new ally NCK of Mani C Kappan. Though a KPCC executive committee member and a Bharatiya National Janata Dal member submitted nominations as rebel candidates, both of them were persuaded to withdraw their nominations after talks held by the KPCC.

NCK vice president Sulfikar Mayuri has started his campaign in Elathur.

Babies on board

Election in Kozhikode is also notable for the presence of the youngest candidates in both dominant fronts. SFI state secretary K M Sachin Dev, the CPM candidate in Balussery, is only 27 years old. His college mate K M Abhijith, KSU state president and Congress candidate in Kozhikode North, is 26 years old.

Both of them cut their political teeth as degree students of the Government Arts and Science College Kozhikode at Meenchanda during 2011-14. Sachin Dev was elected as the college union chairman while Abhijith the university union councillor. He later went on to become the university union chairman.