Kerala Assembly Election 2021, Puthukkad profile: CPM's KK Ramachandran faces BJP's A Nagesh, Congress' Sunil Anthikkad in Left stronghold

Puthukkad Assembly Election 2021 | The Puthukkad Assembly constituency came into existence in 2011 after a delimitation exercise, replacing the erstwhile Kodakara constituency. The Puthukkad Assembly constituency will vote on  6 April, 2021 , along with the rest of Kerala. Since Puthukkad’s inception, CPM’s C Raveendranath has represented the constituency after winning the elections with big margins. While his 2011 victory was marked by 26,482 votes, he won the 2016 election by 38,478 votes. Raveendranath, who served as the Kodakara MLA from 2006 to 2011, is the present education minister in the Pinarayi Vijayan cabinet. Raveendranath, however, is not on the fray this time after the party implemented a two-term limit for MLAs. CPM has fielded KK Ramachandran as LDF candidate from the seat. Ramachandran will is up against BJP’s A Nagesh who had come third in the 2016 polls, and Congress candidate Sunil Anthikkad.

Past election results and winners

In the 2016 Assembly election, CPM’s Raveendranath had secured 79,464 votes, Sundaran Kunnathully polled 40,986 votes. BJP nominee A Nagesh came third with 35,833 votes.

Total electors, voter turnout, population

Electors: Puthukkad has 1,93,938 registered voter, of whom, 94,566 are males and 99,372 are females. There are 189 polling stations in the constituency. Voter turnout: In the 2016 Assembly election, Puthukkad witnessed 81.07 percent voter turnout. A total of 1.58 lakh voters exercised their franchise, of whom 75,392 were males and 82,692 were females. Population: The Puthukkad Assembly constituency comprises eight panchayats viz. Alagappanagar, Mattathur, Nenmanikkara, Parappukkara, Puthukkad, Varandarappilly, Trikkur and Vallachira. 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.