Mayor VK Prasanth emerges favourite

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: CPM’s Thiruvanathapuram district secretariat is in favour of fielding mayor V.K. Prasanth from Vattiyoorkavu constituency notwithstanding the community factor.

The district leadership believes Mr Prasanth would be the right choice that in the current circumstances. Moreover, his performance as mayor has been outstanding which could be cashed in on for the polls.

Though the community equations do not favour Mr Prasanth, a section within the party believes that his candidature would send a right signal to the electorate that the CPM is giving preference to performance over community.

The Vattiyoorkavu constituency will undoubtedly witness the mother of all battles. The LDF performance had witnessed a slump in the recent Lok Sabha polls when it secured just 29414 votes. The poll outcome would also depend on the BJP candidate.

Kummanam Rajashe-kharan of the BJP had pushed CPM’s formidable candidate T.N. Seema to the third place in 2916 Assembly polls.

In 2016, at the CPM had constituted a committee led by Koliakode Krishnan Nair to probe the reasons behind the defeat. The candidate had complained about the huge drop in votes especially in party strongholds. According to her this could not have happened had the local leadership been active and alert.

Mr Rajashekharan had increased the BJP’s vote share by over 30,000 votes by cutting into the base of the Congress and the CPM.  Political observers say the situation has not changed much on the ground if the Lok Sabha election results are any indication.

If the BJP decides to field Mr Rajashekharan then it’s going to be tough call for the CPM. However, the LDF is banking on the work done by Mr Prasanth. The mayor has earned the goodwill of the middle class and the massive collection of relief materials under his leadership after the recent floods has raised his stock.

But the big question is whether the people’s goodwill is enough to win a tough political battle.