M B Faisal faces an uphill task

MALAPPURAM: The LDF and the CPM are aiming at the future by pitting the young M.B.  Faisal against a seasoned candidate like UDF’s P.K. Kunhalikutty in Malappuram.   The CPM wants to  introduce one of its youngest faces in the district to parliamentary politics as winning from Malappuram is a Herculean task.  All the Assembly constituencies remain with the UDF now. The CPM had earlier considered  veteran  T.K. Hamsa who had won  Manjeri in 2006  defeating Muslim League’s K.P.A. Majeed  with  a whopping majority,  which played a crucial  role in the growth of the party in the district. 

Another person  in the list was  Mr T.K. Raheedali,  Mr Faisal’s colleague in the district panchayat council,  who  had put up a  great fight in the Mankada constituency in the 2016 Assembly election.  However,  Mr Faisal  finally won the day.   He will have to contend with the huge majority of 1,94,739 votes  bagged by the late  E. Ahmed  in  2014,   though the LDF had brought it down  in the last Assembly election.     The CPM candidate against  Ahmed in 2014  was  P.K. Sainaba, whose stand against Muslims helped  him get more votes. The Malappuram LS constituency consists of seven Assembly seats which  were  won by the UDF with a total majority of 1,18,694 votes in 2016.