Kerala Assembly Election 2021, Kayamkulam profile: CPM MLA U Pratiba Hari looks to fend off Congress' Aritha Babu and BDJS' Pradeep Lal

Kayamkulam Assembly Election 2021 | The Kayamkulam Assembly constituency, which has favoured both UDF and LDF in the past, has elected CPM candidates to the Assembly since 2006. Incumbent MLA U Pratiba Hari won the 2016 election by 11,857 votes, defeating Congress rival M Liju. Prior to Hari’s election, CPM’s CK Sadasivan represented Kayamkulam for two terms, from 2006 to 2016. While current public works minister G Sudhakaran had won the seat in 1996, former KPCC president MM Hassan succeeded him by winning the 2001 election. Prominent communist leader KO Ayesha Bai—who served as Kerala’s first Deputy Speaker from 1957 to 1959—was elected from Kayamkulam in 1957 and 1960. Since Hari has only completed one term as the MLA in Kayamkulam, the CPM—which has a two-term norm for its legislators— has fielded her in the constituency against Congress’ Aritha Babu and NDA candidate Pradeep Lal (BDJS).

Past election results and winners

In the 2016 election, CPM first-timer U Pratiba Hari garnered 72956 votes against the 61,099 votes polled by her Congress rival M Liju. BDJS nominee Shaji M Panicker received 20,000 votes.

Total electors, voter turnout, population

Electors: Kayamkulam has 2,08,620 registered voters who can vote in the upcoming Assembly election. There are 98,358 male voters, 1,10,261 female voters and one third-gender voter in the constituency. Kayamkulam has 184 polling stations. Voter turnout: The voter turnout in the 2016 Assembly election was 78.19 percent. A total of 1.56 lakh voters of the total 1.99 lakh registered electors cast their vote. Population: The Kayamkulam Assembly constituency comprises Kayamkulam municipality and Devikulangara, Kandalloor, Krishnapuram, Pathiyoor panchayat in Karthikappally taluk; and Bharanikkavu and Chettikulangara panchayats in Mavelikkara 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.