KERALA BYPOLLS

How CPM's UR Pradeep navigates Chelakkara’s feudal roots, tribal ties & middle-class identity

Chelakkara: Thencheeri, a small village in Chelakkara's Panjal grama panchayat, blends the old and the new. Retired from big corporate houses in big cities, several natives have returned to settle here. Some retired as high priests from Guruvayur and Sabarimala, while their children have moved on to work at Apple and Google. Yet, the past lingers: farmhands and domestic workers still respectfully call them thamburan and thamburatti. But even here, a red streak of political loyalty runs through the village, quietly binding everyone together.

Around 10.30 am, they lined up to welcome UR Pradeep, the gentle, soft-spoken LDF candidate for the Chekalara assembly constituency, reserved for members of the Scheduled Caste community. Pradeep's decked-up open jeep rolls into Thencheeri right on time, and he eases into his speech.

"Dear folks, mothers, sisters, comrades..." Halfway through his greeting, he pauses and glances toward a familiar face. "Gangadharan etta, are you upset with me?" " No," comes the reply. The small crowd lets out a tentative laugh, unsure of what’s happening. Pradeep clears the air. "I couldn’t make it to the wedding at his house." This time, the crowd chuckles knowingly. Pradeep, who represented the same constituency from 2016 to 2021, was making a subtle point. "So, there’s no need for introductions," he says gently. "I am not giving a stump speech. People will not take my words seriously in an election campaign. I believe the work is important, not words."

The crowd applauds him for his honesty. "There is a lie campaign going around in the constituency. It will be amplified in the coming days. Those who cannot reach here may be misled. Please take the initiative to guide them to the truth. Thank you for the reception and please cast your votes for hammer, sickle and star symbol and ensure I win by a big margin." Pradeep gets onto his jeep and moves to his next destination. Panjal Panchayat member Sandeep, who represents the Painkulam Centre ward, which includes the Thencheeri area, proudly says that he wrested the ward from the BJP in the 2020 local body election.

"Our Booth No. 50 has 1,432 voters. We have only two Muslim voters and zero Christian voters. Around 60 per cent are upper caste Hindus, and the remaining belong to the stone mason community," he says. Yet, the BJP got only eight votes more than the CPM in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, Sandeep says. Parukutty (70), who was in the line to greet Pradeep, says she began working for the CPM at age 26, back when her village knew only one party. "Today, there are three sets of parties. There is a hand and a lotus. New people keep changing their parties. But I stay true to my party."

When Onmanorama struck up a conversation with her, Parukutty shared that she sweeps a thamburan’s courtyard twice a week, earning Rs 1,000 a month, and lives alone in a small, termite-eaten shack on a five-cent plot. She applied for a new house through the LDF-run grama panchayat, but the board suggested she apply for repair funds instead. "I did, but I received neither money for repairs nor to build a new house," she says. Three weeks ago, she received her old-age pension of Rs 1,600. "But three months’ pension is still pending. None of that matters, though—my vote is for the LDF," she says.

When asked how she joined the party, she recalls her thamburan telling her she had to support the union to keep working in the paddy fields. "That’s how I took up the red flag. I’ve marched all the way to Ayanthole (30 km away) for protests," she says. By then, the LDF candidate had made six more stops and was nearing Nayadi Nagar, a settlement of 11 Nayadi Scheduled Tribe families on the edge of the Akamala forest in Mullurkara grama panchayat. (People still refer to the settlement as Nayadi 'Colony,' though Chelakara's five-time MLA K Radhakrishnan removed 'colony' from government records on his last day as Minister for Welfare of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Backward Classes, saying it stigmatised the residents.)

Once, the Nayadi community lived by gathering medicinal plants and honey from the forest. "Now, we work as farm labourers," says Murugan K, in his early 50s. He’s frustrated with the government and the LDF-led block panchayat because his two-room house lacks a motorable road from the colony road. “Five months ago, officials came to measure the pathway. It was the fifth time they’ve done that," he says. Murugan’s wife, Jaya (47), shares their water woes while waiting for the candidate. They have a public well about 500 meters downhill but no pipeline to bring the water home. "We still draw water from the forest streams 500 meters uphill using PVC pipes," she says.

Gravity brings home the water but dry leaves or wild animals often block or damage the pipes. "When we go to fix it, we run into elephants," says Jaya. The residents still await a solar fence to keep the elephants away. By then, Pradeep arrives in his decked-up jeep, waving at the small crowd. He walks to them, picks up a child, and builds a rapport with the people. He delivers the same speech he gave at Thencheeri, earning applause when he emphasises that actions matter more than words.

By the end of the day, Pradeep made over 30 stopovers in five grama panchayats -- Deshamangalam, Panjal. Mullurkara, Vallathol Nagar and Varavoor. He ended his third phase campaign by visiting each of the 177 booths in the constituency. During a lunch stop at a comrade's house in Valavu, Onmanorama raised Chelakkara’s issues with Pradeep. "These issues exist in every constituency," he says. "We've accomplished a lot in basic infrastructure and education, and people come to thank us for what we’ve done — and also tell us the things we have to do. The important thing is an open communication between the party and the people. We're amidst the people," he says. " And because of that, the people will not betray us."