Kerala Assembly Election 2021, Manalur profile: Incumbent CMP MLA Murali Perunelli in the frey for third term

Manalur Assembly Election 2021 | The Manalur Assembly constituency is located in the Thrissur district of Kerala. Former Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president VM Sudheeran represented Manalur in the Assembly for four terms from 1980 to 1996. During his tenure, Sudheeran also served as the Kerala Speaker from 1985 to 1987. He was also the state health minister from 1995 to 1996 in the AK Antony cabinet. Manalur has sent UDF representatives to the Assembly in 11 out of 14 elections. CPM has only won the seat twice — in 2006 and 2016 — with Murali Perunelli as its candidate. While Perunelli won in 2006 by 7,720 votes, his 2016 victory was marked by 19,325 votes.

Past election results and winners

In 2016, CPM’s Perunelli captured the seat by polling 70,422 votes, defeating Congress’ Abdu Rahimankutty who got 51,097 votes. Congress had won the 2011 election when PA Madhavan defeated CPM’s Baby John by a mere 481 votes.

Total electors, voter turnout, population

Electors: Manalur has 2,11,556 registered voters, comprising 1,01,761 males, 1,09,793 females and two third-genders. There are 190 polling stations in the constituency. Voter turnout: In the 2016 Assembly election, Manalur saw 76.49 voter turnout. Of the total 161945 who cast their vote, 73,569 were males and 88,376 were females. Population: The Manalur Assembly constituency comprises Arimpur and Manalur panchayats in Thrissur taluk; Choondal and Kandanassery panchayats in Thalappilly taluk; and Elavally, Mullassery, Vatanappally, Pavaratty, Thaikkad and Venkitangu panchayats in Chavakkad 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.