Kerala Assembly Election 2021, Perinthalmanna profile: IUML's Manjalamkuzhi Ali clinched narrow victory in 2016

Perinthalmanna Assembly Election 2021 | Perinthalmanna is an IUML stronghold in the Malappuram district of Kerala. Since 1957, Left parties have managed to win the Assembly seat in four out of 14 elections. Perinthalmanna will vote on  6 April, 2021 , along with the rest of Kerala. The 2016 battle witnessed a close contest between the IUML and CPM. Incumbent Muslim League MLA Manjalamkuzhi Ali ended up winning by a 579-vote margin. Ali, who was an LDF-backed Independent MLA from Mankada for two terms from 2011, joined the IUML in 2011. He served as the urban affairs minister in the Oommen Chandy cabinet between 2012 and 2016. Ali announced in February that he will not be seeking re-election in the upcoming 2021 polls. According to reports, the League is likely to give up Perinthalmanna from its UDF quota in exchange for another seat. The New Indian Express reported that IUML might swap Perinthalmanna with the Congress for Thavanur, or with the Kerala Congress (M) Joseph faction for Thavanur. The LDF is yet to disclose its plans for the Perinthalmanna seat.

Past election results and winners

In 2016, Manjalamkuzhi Ali’s decline in vote share (from 52.14 percent in 2011 to 46.89 percent in 2016) turned the election into a tough contest. The IUML leader polled 70,990 votes while his CPM rival V Sasikumar received 70,411 votes.

V Sasikumar had previously contested and won the Perinthalmanna seat in 2006.

Total electors, voter turnout, population

Electors: In Perinthalmanna, 2,09,377 people are registered to vote in the 2021 Assembly election. The electorate comprises 1,03,089 males, and 1,06,288 females. The constituency has 179 polling stations. Voter turnout: In 2016, 77.23 percent of the total registered electors in Perinthalmanna cast their vote during the Assembly election. Over 1.5 lakh voters turned up to vote, of whom 68,578 were male and 81,997 were female. Population: The Perinthalmanna Assembly constituency consists of Perinthalmanna municipality and Aliparamba, Elamkulam, Pulamanthole, Thazhekode, Vettathur and Melattur 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.