Kerala Assembly election 2021, Chirayinkeezhu Profile: CPI's V Sasi seeks third term, faces Congress' Anup BS
The BJP, in the meanwhile, has fielded Ashanath, a woman candidate, against Sasi in the Chirayinkeezhu constituency
Representational image. Firstpost
Chirayinkeezhu Assembly Election 2021 | Chirayinkeezhu is an Assembly constituency that came into existence only recently after the 2010 delimitation exercise. The seat is reserved for Schedule Caste candidates and lies in the Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala. It is one of the seven Assembly seats that fall under the Attingal Parliamentary constituency.
The election to the Chirayinkeezhu Assembly constituency will be held on 6 April and results will be out on 2 May.
V Sasi of CPI is the sitting MLA of this constituency, while Congress' Adoor Prakash is the current MP from the Lok Sabha seat. Sasi has won both elections that have been held in the newly formed constituency so far. He is in the fray once again to defend the seat, while Congress has fielded Anup BS, who is a new face in the electoral fray. BJP has fielded Ashanath, a woman candidate in the constituency.
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Past election and results
Chirayinkeezhu has only seen two elections so far and both were won by CPI's V Sasi.
In 2016, Sasi won the seat by defeating KS Ajith Kumar from Indian National Congress with a margin of 14,322 votes. Sasi got 46.75 percent of the votes. In 2011, he beat K Vidyadharan of the Congress by 12,225 votes.
Elections in Kerala have traditionally been a contest between the UDF and the LDF with power swinging between the two groups.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the Congress-led UDF had won 19 out of the state’s 20 Lok Sabha seats banking on incumbency against the ruling LDF. However, repeating a similar feat in the Assembly polls is going to be an uphill task for the UDF.
The LDF has not only managed to overcome anti-incumbency in the 2020 local body polls, but also managed to make inroads into UDF vote-banks, particularly in Thrissur, Ernakulam, and Kottayam districts.
The NDA, which is emerging as a third front in Kerala, will be hoping to increase its tally in the Assembly polls. However, given that the BJP-led NDA didn't meet the expectations in the 2020 local body polls despite making gains, its ability to impact either the UDF's or LDF's prospects in the Assembly election remains unclear.
In the local body polls, however, the people have shown a clear preference towards the CPM-led Left Democratic Front (LDF). Since 1979, only once, in 2010, has the United Democratic Front (UDF) upset the apple cart.
Total electors, voter turnout, population
Electors: According to the Election Commission of India, the total number of registered electors in the state is 2,67,31,509, including 1,29,52,025 male, 1,37,79,263 female and 211 third gender voters.
In the district of Thiruvananthapuram alone, there are 27,69,272 voters of which 13,15,905 are male and 14,53,310 are female. There are 57 third-gender voters in the district.
The Chirayinkeezhu constituency has 1,96,142 registered voters ahead of the 2021 elections of which 89,494 are male and 1,06,645 are female. Three voters have identified themselves as the third gender.
Voter Turnout: The overall voter turnout during the 2016 Assembly election was 77.35 percent. The percentage voter turnout of women voters excluding the postal ballot was 75.97 percent and that of men voters excluding postal ballot was 78.14 percent.
At least 70.09 percent of registered voters had come out to vote in the Chirayinkeezhu Assembly constituency, of which 66.76 percent were male and 72.86 percent were females.
Population and demography: Total population of the Thiruvananthapuram district is 3,301,427 as per census 2011. Hinduism constitutes 66.46 percent of the Thiruvananthapuram population. Muslims are in minority in the Thiruvananthapuram district, forming 13.72 percent of the total population.
Election date and timing
The Kerala Assembly/Niyama Sabha polls will be held on 6 April, 2021, along with Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. The day will also see phase three polls in Assam and West Bengal.
The Kerala Legislative Assembly (Vidhan Sabha) has a total number of 140 seats, of which, 14 seats are reserved for the Scheduled Castes and two seats are reserved for the Scheduled Tribes.
The outgoing Assembly has eight female MLAs and rest 132 are male MLAs. The current Kerala Niyamasabha session will expire on 1 June 2021.
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