Kalliasseri all set to witness a youth fight

KANNUR: Kalliasseri is one of the few constituencies where youth are facing each other. While the CPM is fielding its state committee member and sitting MLA 42-year old T.V Rajesh, Congress has chosen a surprise candidate in this red bastion. Kannur Corporation councilor and former Minister N Ramakrishnan’s daughter, 36-year-old Amritha Ramakrishnan, is facing Rajesh here. The BJP found their candidate in 31-year-old school teacher K.P Arun , who is contesting for the first time in an election.

Kalliasseri always favoured the Left during elections when it was part of Madayi as well as when it was scattered between Azhikode, Payyannur and Taliparamba constituencies. The constituency was formed in 2011 by attaching four panchayats each from Azhikode (Kalliaserri, Kannapuram, Cherukunnu, Mattool) and Payyannur (Madayi, Kunjimangalam, Cheruthazham, Kadannappalli- Panappuzha) and one from Talipparamba (Pattuvam).

During the 2011 Assembly elections, 2014 Lok Sabha and 2015 civic polls, there was no significant variation in the voting pattern in this constituency. In 2011, CPM state committee member T.V Rajesh won by a margin of 29,946 votes against P. Indira of the UDF.

In 2011, out of the total polled 1, 24,854 (79.73%), Rajesh grabbed 73,190 votes whereas the UDF managed 43,244 votes. In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, LDF’s P Karunakaran got 71,205 votes which is 1,985 votes less. However the BJP and the UDF made progress winning 5,259 and 5,179 more votes respectively.

Rajesh has effectively used his five-year term by launching many popular projects and actively being involved in civic issues. Amritha , an MBA graduate, debuted in electoral politics after working for nearly eight years in the Human resource sector of various companies in Pune and Bangalore. 

Last year, she won from Temple Gate ward of the newly created Kannur Corporation. BJP’s Arun is a teacher at Chirakkal Rajah’s UP School and the Yuva Morcha’s District President.