Kannur: The Kannur assembly segment comprising the city and surrounding areas is an island of volatility in the district that swears its allegiance to the CPM. Yet the Congress-led United Democratic Front was toppled in the urban constituency last time.
Sitting MLA Ramachandran Kadannappally faces the same opponent in Congress leader Satheesan Pacheni. The LDF wants to retain the tilt of 2016 while the UDF hopes to take the seat back.
Though Kannur district is known as a red bastion, the urban centre has not elected a communist leader except C Kannan. The CPM always relied on likeminded independent candidates or allies like Kadannappally.
The Kannur assembly segment had only elected Congress candidates since 1987. The constituency even stood by A P Abdukka Kutty, a former MP who crossed over from the CPM to be a Congress candidate in the assembly election.
Kadannappally lost to Abdulla Kutty in 2011 but defeated Pacheni in 2016 by 1,196 votes. Pacheni faced headwinds in the constituency in the form of internal turbulence in the Congress party and a general dislike for shifting sitting MLA Abdulla Kutty to Thalassery.
However, Pacheni was the unanimous choice this time, though Kannur was earlier mooted as one of the seats where KPCC president Mullappally Ramachandran could contest. Pacheni’s work as the district head of the party has drawn him closer to the workers. He has been doing the groundwork for this fight since he lost out in 2016.
Kadannappally has consolidated his position too. His popularity chart only grew since he was picked out as a minister in the LDF government. His characteristic humbleness makes him all the more endearing. He has not succumbed to the trappings that comes with power.
Kadannappally is an enviable candidate. His strength is his ability to connect with people. Though his party, Congress (S), is not known for its mass base, Kadannappally is.
Community equations are as important as political stands and personal connections in Kannur. The segment is fractured into captive vote banks of varying sizes. The LDF will have a tough time breaking into the strongholds of the Muslim League.
The UDF’s primary task is to ensure that its committed votes are not swayed. Kadannappally highlights the development activities he had initiated in the constituency.
The UDF led in the assembly segment by 23,423 votes in the Lok Sabha election of 2019, when Congress leader K Sudhakaran was elected to the Lok Sabha. The opposition alliance even withstood an LDF wave that was visible in most of Kerala in last year’s local body elections. The UDF won 24 of the 40 corporation divisions that fall within the assembly segment. The LDF won 15 and the other seat was taken by an independent.
The rest of the segment is formed by the Munderi panchayat on the outskirts of the city. The panchayat is ruled by the LDF.
The BJP has fielded Archana Vandichal, with an eye on the 13,215 votes it garnered in the previous assembly election.
