Kerala Assembly polls: Sudhakaran bets on odds

Uduma: At EMS Junction at Pulloor, some 5 km from Uduma, Comrade Padmavathy had all the time to lynch the Chandy Goverment before the scheduled arrival of the CPM candidate and sitting MLA, Mr K Kunhiraman, on Wednesday.

Ms Padmavathy stood in the sun to empathize with some of those among the crowd with no awning over their heads. There were occasional nods, when she reeled off media disclosures of controversial Cabinet decisions.

“Believe this? Chandy had said his Government has been on a perpetual vigil to protect interests of the State. Then how come Jisha was murdered at home?” The crowd sat dismayed, each time she recalled the tragedy that befell a young Dalit woman, who had aspired to be an advocate.

Mr Kunhiraman, who works in his farms when he is not in the Assembly, starts off on a low key and ends on a still lower note, reminding voters his humble service of the constituency the past five years.

“The construction of a rail over bridge at Chemnad from the MLA funds is a personal record. Mr Chandy’s claims on caring for marginalized sections ring hollow in comparison to the Left’s abiding support for the welfare of the poor while in government”.        

Nearly 17 km away, minutes before the rains lashed the coastal hamlet of Keezhur, Congress candidate K Sudhakaran was on the last lap of his public campaigning, exhorting voters, mostly women, to vote for Mr Chandy’s development initiatives and give the UDF another term to complete the good work.      

Many nodded in approval as Muslim League youths raised slogans in the background, overawed  by the rabble-rouser from Kannur.

“Past decades have been slow on development. The resentment against this has been an overriding sentiment among voters. Many voters from opposite camps have confided in me that they will vote for change”, said Mr Sudhakaran.   

Elsewhere in Uduma, BJP candidate K Srikanth was also on his last round. Police pickets were seen at several points that had witnessed communal strife. He starts off on a confident note, with the 25,548 votes polled by the BJP in the 2014 elections and banks on the “euphoria” created by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s well-attended rallies.       

Mr Sudhakaran’s hopes spring from T Siddique’s slender lead of 835 votes over CPM leader P Karunakaran in the 2014 LS polls. Uduma has stood by the Left all through, except in 1987, when it sent Congress candidate K P Kunhikannan to the Assembly.

Mr Sudhakaran’s campaign had kicked off in Dubai, where he found to his surprise that 3,000 people from Uduma worked. This has paid off in the form of chartered flights, sponsored by Kerala Muslim Cultural Centre.

Besides the BJP candidate, those of SDPI and PDP are spoilers, perhaps a threat to the LDF than UDF.