Kerala Assembly Election 2021, Idukki profile: Former Kerala Congress colleagues Roshy Augustine, Francis K George to face each other

Idukki Assembly Election 2021 | The Idukki Assembly constituency, a traditional UDF stronghold, came into existence during the 1977 election after the second delimitation exercise in Kerala. The Idukki Assembly constituency will vote on  6 April, 2021 , along with the rest of Kerala.

Past election results and winners

In the 2016 election, incumbent Kerala Congress (M) MLA Roshy Augustine won the seat by garnering 60,556 votes. He defeated his former Kerala Congress colleague K Francis George by 9,333 votes. George, who had contested the election as an independent candidate had polled 51,223 votes, while BDJS nominee Biju Madhavan got 27,403 votes. Augustine is currently serving his fourth term as the Idukki legislator. With the Jose K Mani faction of Kerala Congress (M) joining the LDF, Augustine has been named as a candidate of the LDF in the 2021 election. Meanwhile, the UDF has alloted the seat to the PJ Joseph faction of Kerala Congress. The Joseph faction has named George as the candidate.

Total electors, voter turnout, population

Electors: Idukki has 1,83,505 registered voters who can vote in the 2021 Assembly election. There are 90,673 male voters, and 92,832 female voters in the constituency. The constituency has 196 polling stations. Voter turnout: The voter turnout in the 2016 Assembly election was 76.35 percent. A total of 1.3 lakh voters of the total 1.83 lakh registered electors cast their vote. Population: The Idukki Assembly constituency comprises Arakkulam, Idukki-Kanjikuzhi, Kudayathoor and Vazhathope panchayats in Thodupuzha taluk; and Kamakshy, Kanchiyar, Kattappana, Konnathady, Mariapuram and Vathikudy Panchayats in Udumbanchola taluk. As per Census 2011, of Kerala’s 3.34 crore population, 54.73 percent are followers of Hinduism, followed by 26.56 percent followers of Islam and 18.38 percent Christians. Hinduism is the major religion in 13 of the state’s 14 districts. Malappuram is the only district in Kerala where Islam is the major religion with 70.24 percent of the district’s total population following the religion. The state has a tiny population that follows Jainism (0.01 percent), Sikhism (0.01 percent), Buddhism (0.01 percent) and 0.02 percent (other religions). Nearly 0.26 percent in the state didn’t state their religion during the 2011 Census.

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 incumbent Kerala Niyamasabha will expire on 1 June, 2021.

Political alliances and Kerala

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 votebanks, 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. Of the seven Assembly segments that are part of the Kasaragod Parliamentary constituency, five are with the CPM-led LDF (four with CPM, and one with CPI) while IUML, a constituent of the Congress-led UDF, is the second-largest party, winning the remaining two seats (Kasaragod and Manjeshwaram) in the last Assembly polls. BJP didn’t win any of the seven Assembly segments that are part of the Kasaragod Parliamentary constituency in 2016.