LDF faces litmus test in byelection as Congress counts on anti-incumbency

The byelections will be held on November 13 and the counting of votes will take place on November 23.

Kerala has once again plunged into a high-stakes political battle between the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Democratic Front and the Congress-led United Democratic Front with the Election Commission of India announcing the date of bypoll for the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency and the Palakkad and Chelakkara Assembly segments.

The byelections will be held on November 13 and the counting of votes will take place on November 23. Candidates can file their nominations from October 18.

The bypoll for the Wayanad constituency has been necessitated after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi vacated the seat to retain the Rae Bareli constituency. Likewise, the Palakkad and Chelakkara Assembly seats were vacated by Shafi Parambil of the Congress and K. Radhakrishnan of the CPI(M) respectively, after their win in the Lok Sabha elections from Vadakara and Alathur.

The Congress has already nominated its national general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as the candidate for the Wayanad seat. While the party is yet to announce its candidates for the Assembly segments, names such as Youth Congress State president Rahul Mamkootathil and Remya Haridas, who lost the Lok Sabha poll, are being considered for Palakkad and Chelakkara.

Meanwhile, the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are deliberating on fielding formidable opponents against Ms. Vadra. In the April general elections, the CPI had fielded national executive member Annie Raja while the BJP put forward its State president K. Surendran.

Incidentally, Mr. Gandhi’s vote share dwindled from 64.94% in 2019 to 59.69%, while Ms. Raja and Mr. Surendran witnessed an increase of 0.8% and 5.75% respectively in their tally. The bypoll will reveal whether Ms. Vadra can expand her influence than her brother’s victory margin in the Wayanad constituency spread over Wayanad, Malappuram, and Kozhikode districts.

With the Palakkad segment holding particular significance for the BJP, the party is examining at least two potential candidates, C. Krishnakumar and Shobha Surendran, who had contested the recent Lok Sabha polls from Palakkad and Alappuzha. Since 2016, the BJP has consistently secured second place in this constituency, eroding the votes of both the Congress and CPI(M). The 2021 polls saw Mr. Parambil defeating technocrat E. Sreedharan by 3,859 votes in a closely contested race.

The Chelakkara Assembly segment has long been a CPI(M) bastion, with Mr. Radhakrishnan securing a substantial 39,400 vote margin in the 2021 polls. However, his lead over Ms. Haridas in the Lok Sabha polls in this segment was just 5,173 votes. This shift is largely attributed to BJP candidate T.N. Sarasu’s strong performance, garnering nearly 29,000 votes — an increase of over 5,000 from the Assembly polls.

The byelections will be a litmus test for the LDF. While the Congress is leveraging anti-incumbency sentiment, the party must also have to contend with the BJP’s growing influence in Kerala’s political landscape.

Published - October 15, 2024 08:50 pm IST