Kerala Assembly Election 2021, Malampuzha profile: CPM fields A Prabhakaran as party veteran VS Achuthanandan opts out of race

Malampuzha Assembly Election 2021 | Malampuzha is a CPM fortress where the Left party has won every Assembly election since 1967. Ninety-seven-year-old CPM strongman and former chief minister VS Achuthanandan is currently serving his fourth term, while other prominent figures elected to the high profile seat include former chief minister EK Nayanar (from 1980 to 1987), and former Kerala finance minister T Sivadasa Menon (from 1987 to 2001). Achuthanandan, whose victory margin steadily grew in every election from 2001, won the 2016 polls by 27,142 votes. However, the incumbent MLA has dropped out of the 2021 race due to health reasons. The UDF and the NDA, which have consistently failed to build influence in Malampuzha, can hope to make some gains from the veteran leader’s poll absence. Though earlier reports said that the CPM is considering the party secretary in-charge A Vijayaraghavan for the seat, on 10 March, the ruling party in the state announced A Prabhakaran as the candidate from the seat.

Past election results and winners

In the 2016 Assembly election, CPM’s Achuthanandan polled 73,299 votes, while BJP runner-up C Krishnakumar got 46,157 votes. Congress’ vote share dipped to 22.12 percent (from 39.84 percent in 2011) and it came third with just 35,333 votes.

Total electors, voter turnout, population

Electors: Malampuzha has 2.8 lakh registered voters, comprising 1.01 lakh males, 1.07 lakh females and two third-genders. There will be 216 polling stations in the upcoming Assembly election. Voter turnout: In the 2016 Assembly election, Maampuzha recorded a voter turnout of 78.52 percent. Over 1.58 lakh voters exercised their franchise, of whom 79,188 were males, and 79,743 were females. Population: The Assembly constituency comprises the following panchayats: Akathethara, Elappully, Kodumba, Malampuzha, Marutharoad, Mundur, Pudussery and Puduppariyaram. 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.