Kerala Assembly Election 2021, Kalamassery profile: IUML drops incumbent Ebrahim Kunju, fields VE Abdul Gafoor

Kalamassery Assembly Election 2021 | A UDF stronghold, Kalamassery is an industrial hub in Ernakulam district. The Kalamassery Assembly constituency will vote on  6 April, 2021 , along with the rest of Kerala. Kalamassery was made into an Assembly constituency during the  delimitation exercise in 2011 by adding some places from Aluva, Paravoor, and the erstwhile Vadakekkara constituencies.  

Past election results and winners

Indian Union Muslim League’s VK Ebrahim Kunju has held the Kalamassery seat since its inception. While he won the 2011 election by 7,789, his 2016 victory was marked by 12,118 votes. In the 2016 polls, Kunju had polled 68,726 votes while CPM runner-up AM Yousaf had received 56,608 votes. BDJS nominee V Gopakumar had received 24,244 votes. However, with Kunju facing corruption charges in the Palarivattom flyover scam, the party has fielded VE Abdul Gafoor from the seat. Gafoor will be facing CPM’s former Ernakulam district secretary P Rajeev in the 2021 polls.

Total electors, voter turnout, population

Electors: Kalamassery has 1.93 lakh registered electors, of whom 94,196 are males, 99,146 are females and one is third-gender. The Assembly constituency has 171 polling stations. Voter turnout: Kalamassery recorded 81.03 percent voter turnout in the 2016 Assembly election. A total of 1.54 lakh electors (75,628 males and 78,633 females) exercised their franchise. Population: The Kalamassery Assembly constituency comprises Kalamassery municipality in Kanayannur taluk; and Alangad, Eloor, Kadungalloor, Kunnukara, and Karumalloor panchayats in Paravoor 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.