Kerala Assembly Election 2021, Malappuram profile: Incumbent MLA P Ubaidulla won IUML citadel in 2016

Malappuram Assembly Election 2021 | The Malappuram Assembly constituency is an IUML citadel where the LDF has never won an Assembly election. It comes under the Malappuram Lok Sabha constituency in the Muslim-dominated Malappuram district in Kerala. Malappuram will vote on  6 April, 2021 , along with the rest of Kerala. Two prominent IUML figures who have represented Malappuram in the Kerala Assembly are CH Mohammed Koya and PK Kunhalikutty. Koya, who served as the Kerala chief minister in 1979, was the first IUML member to lead a state in independent India. Koya’s son MK Muneer also represented the seat in the Assembly from 1996 to 2001. Incumbent MLA P Ubaidulla is currently serving his second term as the Malappuram MLA, having won the 2011 and 2016 elections. While he is unlikely to seek re-election in the 2021 elections, reports have said the IUML is considering its general-secretary KPA Majeed’s candidature for the Assembly segment. The by-election for the Malappuram Lok Sabha seat will also be held along with the Assembly election in Kerala. The seat was recently vacated by PK Kunhalikutty, who resigned from the Lower House to reportedly contest in the Assembly polls.

Past election results and winners

Sitting MLA P Ubaidulla retained his seat in 2016 with 81,072 votes and a 57.16 percent vote share. CPM runner-up KP Sumathi got 45,400 votes, which accounted for 32.01 percent of the total votes polled. Ubaidulla had a vote share of 63.75 percent in the 2011 election, as he received 77,928 votes.

Total electors, voter turnout, population

Electors: With 1,05,515 men and 1,06,922 women, the Malappuram Assembly constituency has an electorate of 2,12,439 voters. There are 177 polling stations in the constituency. Voter turnout: In 2016, 72.84 percent of the total electorate came out to vote during the Assembly election. Over 1.4 lakh voters, comprising 68,337 males and 72,721 females, exercised their franchise in the last election. Population: The areas that come under the Malappuram Assembly constituency are: Malappuram municipality; and Morayur, Pookkottur, Anakkayam, Pulpatta, and Kodur panchayats. 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.