Kerala Assembly Election 2021, Vypen profile: CPM's S Sarma won second term in 2016

Vypen Assembly Election 2021 | The Vypen Assembly constituency in Ernakulam district was formed in 2011 after a delimitation exercise. The Vypen Assembly constituency will vote on  6 April, 2021 , along with the rest of Kerala.

Past election results and winners

Incumbent CPM MLA S Sarma is currently serving his second term as the Vypen legislator. While his 2011 win was marked by 5,242 votes, his victory margin in 2016 rose to 19,353 votes. Sarma, who was the fisheries minister from 2011 to 2016 and served as the pro-tem Speaker in 2019, had polled 68,526 votes in the 2016 election. Congress runner-up KR Subhash received 49,173 votes, while BDJS candidate Vamalochanan KK came third with 10,051 votes. With the CPM implementing a two-term norm for its legislators, the party has fielded KN Unnikrishnan in the 2021 election. He is up against Congress’ Deepak Joy, BJP’s Advocate KS Shaiju, Dr Job Chakalakal of Twenty 20 Party and Independent candidate Dr MK Mukundan.

Total electors, voter turnout, population

Electors: Vypen has 1,69,020 registered voters who can vote in the upcoming Assembly election. There are 82,328 male voters, and 86,692 female voters in the constituency. Vypen has 147 polling stations. Voter turnout: The voter turnout in the 2016 Assembly election was 79.62 percent. A total of 1.3 lakh voters of the total 1.64 lakh registered electors cast their vote. Population: The Vypen Assembly constituency comprises Kadamakudy and Mulavukad Panchayats in Kanayannur taluk and Edavanakkad, Elamkunnapuzha, Kuzhuppilly, Nayarambalam, Njarakkal and Pallippuram panchayats in Kochi taluk. 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.