Kerala Assembly Election 2021, Irinjalakuda profile: Thomas Unniyadan seeks to wrest seat from CPM, but under new poll symbol

Irinjalakuda Assembly Election 2021 | The Irinjalakuda Assembly constituency comes under the Thrissur district in Kerala. Prominent leaders who represented the Assembly seat include freedom fighter CS Gangadharan, former Kerala chief minister C Achutha Menon, and former Kerala minister Lonappan Nambadan. While Menon won the seat twice — in 1957 and 1960 — Nambadan served as an LDF-backed Independent legislator for four terms, from 1982 to 2001. Thomas Unniyadan as a candidate of the undivided Kerala Congress (M) was elected twice from Irinjalakuda — 2001, 2006 and 2011. His bid for a fourth term in the office was quashed in 2016 when CPM’s KU Arunan defeated him by 2,711 votes. The Irinjalakuda Assembly constituency will vote on  6 April, 2021 , along with the rest of Kerala. Unniyadan is back on the fray, but as a candidate of the breakaway PJ Joseph-led faction, identified as Kerala Congress (J), and will be seeking votes without the ’two leaves’ of the Kerala Congress (M). The EC had awarded the symbol to Jose K Mani-led faction of the Kerala Congress (M), which has joined the LDF following the split. The PJ Joseph-led faction, however, remains a constituent of the Congress-led UDF. Unniyadan faces R Bindu of the CPM in the upcoming election. The BJP has not announced any candidate from the seat.

Past election results and winners

In the 2016 Assembly election, CPM winner KU Arunan polled 59,730 votes while sitting MLA Thomas Unniyadan received 57,019 votes. BJP nominee Santhosh Cherakulam came third with 30,420 votes.

Total electors, voter turnout, population

Electors: Irinjalakuda has an electorate of 193148, which consists of 92,428 males, 1,00,718 females and two third-genders. There are 181 polling stations in the Assembly constituency. Voter turnout: In the 2016 election, Irinjalakuda recorded 77.53 percent voter turnout. Of the 1.48 lakh voters who exercised their franchise, 68,323 were males and 80,331 were females. Population: The Irinjalakuda Assembly constituency comprises Irinjalakuda municipality; and Alur, Karalam, Kattur, Muriyad, Padiyur, Poomangalam, Porathissery and Velookkara panchayats. 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.