Kerala Assembly Election 2021, Perambra profile: Labour minister TP Ramakrishnan is sitting MLA from seat

Perambra Assembly Election 2021 | Perambra, located in the Vatakara Lok Sabha constituency, has been exclusively electing CPM to the Assembly since 1980. Incumbent CPM MLA TP Ramakrishnan is the Minister of Labour and Excise in the current Pinarayi Vijayan cabinet. He first represented Perambra in the Kerala Assembly from 2001 to 2006. Ahead of the 2016 election, CPM fielded Ramakrishnan, although he was reluctant to contest the polls. Some factions had accused him of not protecting the party when it was in a crisis following Chandrasekharan’s murder in 2012. Ramakrishnan went on to win the polls, defeating Kerala Congress (M)’s Mohammed Ikbal by a margin of 4,101 votes. The election marked the second loss for Ikbal, who was also in fray in 2011. Perambra will vote on  6 April, 2021  along with 139 other constituencies in the state.

Past election results and winners

In 2011, CPM’s K Kunhammad Master polled 70,248 votes (51.91 percent of the total votes polled), while his Congress rival Ikbal got 54,979 votes (40.62 percent). During the 2016 election, Ramakrishnan bagged the seat with 72,359 votes (47.14 percent) against Mohammed Ikbal, who got 68,258 votes (44.46 percent).

Total electors, voter turnout, population

Electors: Perambra Assembly constituency has 1,92,529 registered electors who can vote in the upcoming 2021 election. The constituency has 93,577 male voters, 98,950 female voters and two third-gender voters. Perambra has 174 polling stations. Voter turnout: In 2011, Perambra recorded a polling percentage of 84.29. The election witnessed 1.34 lakh of 1.59 lakh registered voters exercise their franchise. The turnout was 84.89 percent in 2016, after 1.51 lakh voters of 1.78 lakh registered ones cast their vote. Population: Perambra Assembly constituency has ten panchayats: Arikkulam, Chakkittapara, Changaroth, Cheruvannur, Keezhariyur, Koothali, Meppayyur, Nochad, Perambra and Thurayur. 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.