Kuttanad, which has been wreaking havoc in the region in recent times due to floods and outbreak of bird-flu, has faced many difficulties. In addition, the constituency has been without a representative in the Assembly since December 2019 after the death of Thomas Chandy.
The COVID-19 pandemic prevented a by-election there and after waiting for over a year, the time has come to elect a representative for the Kuttanad assembly constituency, where the candidates have three-cornered cards on the cards. A fight takes place. Three smaller allies in Left Democratic Front (LDF), United Democratic Front (UDF) and National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
In the 2016 elections, Leftist Democratic Front (LDF) candidate Thomas Chandy of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) defeated his nearest rival and United Democratic Front (UDF) candidate, Kerala Congress (M) candidate Jacob Abraham by a margin of 4,891 votes. Was defeated by. . The biggest surprise then was the 33,044 votes received by Subhash Vasu of Bharat Dharma Sena (BDJS), the constituent of the NDA.
Candidate
This time the NCP won Thomas Chandy’s brother Thomas. Has been fielded, while Jacob Abraham of the PJ Joseph-led Kerala Congress is trying his luck again as a UDF candidate. The NDA, which considers Kuttanad an ‘A’ class constituency, has announced the candidature of Thamma Mettuthra, former vice-president of Alappuzha district panchayat and executive member of Communist Party of India (CPI) Alappuzha district. He will contest on the BDJS ticket.
Mr Metuthara’s accession is expected to make the fight for Kuttanad an interesting one, where Ezhavas and Christians are the majority voters.
8 times with the left
Since coming into existence in 1965, the Kuttanad constituency, where farmer and agricultural issues have always dominated the election scene, has been with the Left Front eight times in 13 elections. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the UDF had the upper hand in the assembly constituency, 2,623 votes more than the LDF. However, the LDF won 10 out of the 13 gram panchayats in the constituency in the 2020 local body elections. LDF gained power in Kainakary, Champakulam, Thakazhi, Veeyapuram, Thalavadi, Muttar, Ramankary, Veliyanad, Kavalam and Neelamperoor gram panchayats. The UDF emerged victorious in Pulinkunnu, Nedumudi and Edathua.
While the LDF hopes to retain the momentum gained in local body elections and the seat to be divided into KC (M), the UDF is trying to win the seat at all costs. The NDA is hoping to repeat the 2016 performance.
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