Kerala Assembly election 2021, Nedumangad Profile: CPI, Congress rely on new faces in Left bastion with BJP in fray

Nedumangad Assembly Election 2021 | Nedumangad is an Assembly constituency in the Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala. It is one of the seven Assembly seats that fall under the Attingal Parliamentary constituency. The election to the state will be held on 6 April and results will be out on 2 May. C Divakaran of CPI is the sitting MLA of this constituency, while Congress’ Adoor Prakash is the current MP from the Lok Sabha seat. Divakaran got elected as an MLA in 2016 for the first time on the seat that is known as the ‘red fort’ for its clear preference for the Left-wing parties. However, this time around the dynamics appear to be a little different with the BJP in the fray and all three parties fielding fresh faces from the seat. CPI has  fielded GR Anil to defend the Left bastion, as the sitting MLA Divakaran’s candidature was ruled out due to the strict implementation of a three-term policy by the Left party. The Congress, meanwhile, has fielded a new face PS Prasanth, who is the former vice-chairman of the Youth Welfare Board. The BJP has fielded JR Padmakumar from the seat. Past election and results  Nedumangad is considered a Left bastion as the constituency has repeatedly elected MLAs from the Left parties. Only thrice since it came into existence has it elected a Congress leader: Palode Ravi holds the distinction of being the only Congress leader to have been elected from here. He got two consecutive terms in 1991 and 1996 and the third chance in the 2011 election. Ravi had won the seat for Congress in 2011 by defeating P Ramachandran Nair of the CPI by 5,030 votes. However, in 2016, CPI’s Divakaran won the seat by defeating Congress’ Ravi with a margin of 3,621 votes. 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. In the local body polls, however, the people have shown a clear preference towards the CPM-led Left Democratic Front (LDF). Since 1979, only once, in 2010, has the United Democratic Front (UDF) upset the apple cart.

Total electors, voter turnout, population

Electors: According to the  Election Commission of India, the total number of registered electors in the state is 2,67,31,509, including 1,29,52,025 male, 1,37,79,263 female and 211 third gender voters. In the  district of Thiruvananthapuram alone, there are 27,69,272 voters of which 13,15,905 are male and 14,53,310 are female. There are 57 third-gender voters in the district. The Nedumangad constituency has 2,03,229 registered voters ahead of the 2021 elections of which 96,472 are male and 1,06,755 are female. Two voters have identified themselves as the third gender. Voter Turnout: The overall voter turnout during the 2016 Assembly election was 77.35 percent. The percentage voter turnout of women voters excluding the postal ballot was 75.97 percent and that of men voters excluding postal ballot was 78.14 percent. At least 73.94 percent of registered voters had come out to vote in the Nedumangad Assembly constituency, of which 73.46 percent were male and 74.37 percent were females. Population and demography: Total population of the Thiruvananthapuram district is 3,301,427 as per census 2011. Hinduism constitutes 66.46 percent of the Thiruvananthapuram population. Muslims are in minority in the Thiruvananthapuram district, forming 13.72 percent of the total population here.

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.