Kerala polls: Triangular contest heats up in Thiruvananthapuram after BJP surge

Vattiyoorkavu | Kazhakootam: Assembly elections in Kerala's capital city are being followed in the immediate context of BJP, for the first time, winning the mantle to rule the Thiruvananthapuram corporation less than six months ago by ending the CPI(M)-led LDF rule and pushing the Congress-led UDF to third position. If that makes these polls an occasion for BJP to try and expand its show to the city's assembly segments, and for LDF and UDF a test on their capacity to fight back, then Vattiyoorkavu and Kazhakootam seats present a classic case of fierce triangular fight involving three principal rivals. In 2021, Left won these two seats after a fierce fight with BJP coming second, pushing Congress to third slot.

The star line-up at Vattiyoorkavu includes young CPM MLA VK Prasanth, a former mayor of Thiruvananthapuram corporation, Congress heavyweight K Muraleedharan, a former MLA of this seat who vacated it after winning a Lok Sabha seat in 2019, and BJP corporator R Sreelekha, better known as the state's first woman IPS officer who joined politics after retirement.

"Prasanth is a young, energetic and accessible MLA even though he has to deal with certain incumbency issues. While Congress has brought back Muraleedharan, the old local MLA, to win back the seat on account of the good works he had done here, he will have to convince voters that he will not be moved out mid-term to fight other Congress electoral battles as he had to do twice in the past. Sreelekha is a prominent face but there are two issues - whether people believe that this ex-cop has the flexibility and accommodation required of an MLA to solve local matters and whether local BJP leaders will fully back her," said local resident Harindran.


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BJP's lead in Vattiyoorkavu assembly segment in the last Lok Sabha and corporation polls and the Left and UDF's past victories here make the fight a close suspense.

GOLD HEIST SHADOW: In neighbouring Kazhakootam, the man at the centre of the Left's hope, and the target of BJP and Congress, is CPI(M) MLA Kadakampalli Surendran who was embroiled, as the former minister for Devaswom, in the murky Sabarimala gold heist case.

Despite the controversies, the Left is again betting on him since he is CPI(M)'s most entrenched local leader, with a knack to rally the election machinery. "We have to make the comrade win this fight at any cost because the stakes are very high for him and LDF here," said CPI(M) sympathiser Rajesh.

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Senior BJP leader V Muraleedharan, a former Union minister who came a close third in the Attingal Lok Sabha constituency, which includes this assembly seat, has positioned himself as the main challenger here, given a BJP candidate was second in Kazhakootam assembly seat last time.

"This election is being fought on two issues: The role of Ladakampilly in the Sabarimala gold stealing episode and the roadmap for development our candidate has presented," said BJP campaigner Sreedharan.

Many locals here feel, with the elections being fought on the counter-planks of 'change' and 'continuity', the votes of Congress candidate T Sarathchandra Prasad, a locally entrenched player, will have a bearing in tilting the balance.