Kerala Assembly election 2021, Vattiyoorkavu profile: CPM fields sitting MLA VK Prasanth in closely watched contest

Vattiyoorkavu Assembly Election 2021 | Vattiyoorkavu is an Assembly constituency in the Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala. It is one of the seven Assembly seats that fall under the Thiruvananthapuram Parliamentary constituency. The election to the state will be held on 6 April and results will be out on 2 May. The seat came to be known as Vattiyoorkavu only in 2011 after delimitation. It was known as Trivandrum North between 1977 to 2006 and as Trivandrum-II before that. VK Prasanth of CPM is the sitting MLA of this constituency, while Congress’ Shashi Tharoor is the current MP from the Lok Sabha seat. Prasanth got elected as an MLA only in 2019 during a by-election. The bypoll was necessitated because the two-term sitting MLA from Congress, K Muraleedharan got elected as an MP from Vatakara (Lok Sabha constituency). K. Mohankumar, who was fielded in Muraleedharan’s stead by the Congress, lost out the seat to Prasanth. CPM has fielded Prasanth again who barely got time to work in the constituency amid Cyclone Okhi and the subsequent coronavirus pandemic. The Congress, meanwhile, has fielded advocate and former TV anchor Veena Nair. She is the daughter-in-law of former Uduma MLA Kunjikkannam. Past election and results  Vattiyoorkavu is currently represented by CPM’s Prasanth, who defeated Congress’ Mohankumar in the 2019 bypolls by over 14,000 votes. In the 2016 polls, Congress’ Muraleedharan defeated his nearest rival — Kummanam Rajasekharan of BJP — by over 7,000 votes. In the 2011 polls, he defeated Independent candidate Cheriyan Phillip by 16,000 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 Vattiyoorkavu constituency has 2,03,811 registered voters ahead of the 2021 elections of which 97,206 are male and 1,06,598 are female. Seven 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 69.83 percent of registered voters had come out to vote in the Vattiyoorkavu Assembly constituency, of which 70.66 percent were male and 69.09 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.