Kerala Assembly Election 2021, Kanjirappally profile: KC (M) incumbent MLA Dr N Jayaraj faces BJP's K Alphons

Kanjirappally Assembly Election 2021 | The Kanjirappally Assembly constituency is a UDF bastion where the CPM has won just twice: in 1967 and 1987. Incumbent MLA and Kerala Congress (M) leader N Jayaraj is currently serving his second term in office after winning the 2016 election by 3,890 votes. Before Jayaraj’s tenure, former Union minister KJ Alphons held the seat from 2006 to 2011. Congress leader George J Mathew held the seat for three terms, from 1991 to 2006. Since Jayaraj has aligned himself with the Jose K Mani faction of the KC(M) following a split in the party, he is now a part of the LDF. While the LDF has fielded Jayaraj for a second term, Alphons is back in the fray as a BJP candidate. In the UDF camp, the seat has gone to Congress, which has fielded Joseph Vazhackan. Also contesting from the seat are Mayamol KP of SUCI (Communist) and Ashik MM of the BSP.

Past election results and winners

In 2016, Jayaraj retained the Kanjirappally seat for KC(M) with 53,126 votes. While CPI runner-up VB Binu polled 49,236 votes, BJP nominee VN Manoj received 31,411 votes.

Total electors, voter turnout, population

Electors: Kanjirappally has 1,84,425 registered voters who can vote in the upcoming Assembly election. There are 90,178 male voters, 94,246 female voters and one third-gender voter in the constituency. Kanjirappally has 181 polling stations. Voter turnout: The voter turnout in the 2016 Assembly election was 76.1 percent. A total of 1.35 lakh voters of the total 1.78 lakh registered electors cast their vote. Population: The Kanjirappally Assembly constituency comprises Chirakkadavu, Kanjirappally and Manimala panchayats in Kanjirappilly taluk; Kangazha, Karukachal, Nedumkunnam, Vazhoor and Vellavoor panchayats in Changanassery Taluk; and Pallikkathode panchayat in Kottayam 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.