Thiruvananthapuram: Nemom is one constituency where the BJP leadership expects the lotus to bloom. However, CPM leaders do not subscribe to this theory. They are sure that two-time MLA V. Sivankutty would win the elections due to the personal bonding he has developed in the constituency. They also hope that the major share of the around 27,000 minority votes would be in their favour.
Mr Sivankutty told DC that one advantage he had over the other two candidates was his presence in the constituency throughout the last five years. “On the other hand, BJP candidate Mr Rajagopal, who lost to me in the last election, is returning to the voters for the first time after that election,” he says.
Mr Sivankutty who sustained an injury after he fell in the bathroom, was campaigning on a wheelchair. The UDF candidate belonging to the Janata dal (United) V Surendran Pillai perhaps is known to the voters as an ex-minister. However, he has never been active in the constituency and has been confined to the Thiruvananthapuram constituency.
He would also have to explain why he quit the LDF to join the UDF on the eve of the elections, Mr Sivankutty said. Mr Sivankutty’s claim about Rajagopal is refuted by him. He says that the lotus would not only bloom in Nemon, it would also bloom in other constituencies.
The voters here would give a fitting reply to both the fronts, Mr Rajagopal said. At 86 years of age, for Mr Rajagopal it is perhaps his last chance to contest an election. Mr Pillai who was a late entrant to the field as there was a delay by the UDF in announcing his candidature, feels that the delay has not affected his campaign.
“The other two candidates were early starters. However, I have caught up with them and have covered 70 percent of the areas they have covered,” Mr Pillai said. The other candidates could not erect anymore flexes and boards as they had already almost reached the expense ceiling fixed by the Election Commission, Mr Pillai pointed out. They would have to restrict the campaign to house visits, marches and meetings, he said.
Mr Pillai also claimed that the contest would be just between him and the BJP candidate as the campaign progressed because minority votes, which were in favour of the LDF in the last elections, would shift to his side.In the last assembly elections, the UDF’s JDU candidate Charupara Ravi was a distant third by securing only 20,248 votes which came to around 17.36 percent of the electorate.
