Mattannur had provided CPM its biggest majority of 60,963 votes in the 2021 Assembly Elections. Yet Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan spoke less to its constituents when the LDF government's Nava Kerala Sadas arrived at the constituency on Wednesday.
At Mattannur, the chief minister spoke for about 19 minutes. By comparison, at Koothuparamba and Peravoor, the other two constituencies that were on the Sadas' agenda on Wednesday, Pinarayi spoke for at least 37 and 40 minutes respectively.
Mattannur wasn't the final stop on the schedule either. The CM and his entourage had started the day with a cabinet meeting around 9 am in Thalassery and began the Sadas at Panoor in Koothuparamba. Mattannur was the next stop while the public meeting at Iritty in the Peravoor constituency was the last lap.
The reason for Pinarayi's short speech at Mattannur was its MLA, K K Shailaja. In fact, the chief minister began his Mattannur speech by criticising Shailaja, who chaired the meeting, for speaking too much.
"Though 21 of us are part of the Nava Kerala Sadas, we planned it in such a way that three of us will speak. But there was a minor slip in the arrangements here. The chairperson who sees you all daily felt like speaking a little more in front of you and because of that, it seems some extra time was taken. As a consequence, the remainder of the time will have to be cut short," Pinarayi said.
How much is too much
As per the schedule of the Sadas, at least three ministers would reach early and address the crowd before the CM and the other ministers arrive at the venue and join them on the stage. Before the ministers' address, the person chairing the meeting, often the MLA, if the constituency belongs to the LDF or a representative of the civic body in case its rival territory, would speak.
At Koothuparamba, LDF's MLA K P Mohanan was the chairperson and he spoke for a little over 8 minutes. In Peravoor, which is a UDF constituency, District Panchayat's vice-president, Advocate Binoy Kurian was the chairman. He too spoke for 8 minutes. At Mattannur though, Shailaja spoke for around 15 minutes.
It was a matter-of-fact address, extolling the virtues of the LDF government that was in its second term. The former Health Minister had been the star of the first-Pinarayi government. Her leadership and unyielding attitude played a vital role as Kerala managed to tide over the first Nipah outbreak and the COVID-19 pandemic, and won her plenty of plaudits. It was also reflected in the LDF's outstanding triumph in the assembly polls. Pinarayi's margin of 50,123 from Dharmadom was only the second-best majority, behind Shailaja's.
Shailaja outlined the purpose of the Sadas to her constituents. "There is plenty to say, but I don't want to take much time as our ministers are here to speak," she said before passing the mic to PWD and Tourism Minister PA Muhammed Riyas, who spoke for 20 minutes. Ministers K Rajan and Ahammed Devarkovil were the other two speakers, and they hurriedly wrapped up in about 26 minutes (combined) while the CM's party arrived.
At Koothuparamba, ministers P Rajeev, K Krishnankutty, and K Radhakrishnan took a total of 58 minutes while in Peravoor, Ministers Roshy Augustine, VN Vasavan and GR Anil spoke for 40 minutes.