Kerala Assembly Election 2021, Kozhikode South profile: IUML's MK Muneer holds seat since two terms

Kozhikode South Assembly Election 2021 | Kozhikode South seat, formerly known as Calicut II, was renamed during the last delimitation exercise. Incumbent MLA MK Muneer of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) is currently the Deputy Leader of Opposition in the Kerala Assembly. He won both the elections in the constituency held post delimitation. He had also represented Calicut II in the Assembly from 1991 to 1996. Ahead of the 2021 election, reports had surfaced claiming that Muneer wanted to contest from Koduvally. The Koduvally leadership of IUML reportedly opposed this and now the party is thinking of fielding Muneer from his sitting constituency, according to Asianet News. Mathrubhumi reported that the IUML is likely to field Muslim Students Federation national vice-president Fathima Thahiliya from Kozhikode South if Muneer is picked for another constituency. There is no clarity on the LDF’s plans in the constituency for the upcoming election. Kozhikode South will vote on  6 April, 2021  along with 139 other constituencies in the state.

Past election results and winners

UDF nominee Muneer had won the 2011 election by a margin of 1,376 votes, defeating CPM’s nominee CP Musafir Ahammed. The margin grew in 2016, when Muneer won the election by 6,327 votes. He polled 49,863 votes against INL runner-up AP Abdul Vahab, who got 43,536 votes.

Total electors, voter turnout, population

Electors: Kozhikode South has 1,52,190 registered votes who can exercise their franchise in the 2021 Assembly election. Voter turnout: In the 2016 Assembly election, Kozhikode South witnessed a voter turnout of 77.37 percent. A total of 1.15 lakh (55,408 male and 59,760 female) of 1.48 lakh registered voters showed up to exercise their franchise. Population: The Kozhikode South Assembly constituency consists of wards 17 to 38, and 41 of the Kozhikode Municipal Corporation in Kozhikode 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 current Kerala Niyamasabha session will expire on 1 June, 2021.

Political alliances in 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 vote banks, 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.