PATHANAMTHITTA: The UDF has always banked on Pathanamthitta which has stood by it even during adverse political situations. The district brought cheers to the UDF in the latest local body and the Lok Sabha polls. However, in the 2011 Assembly elections, the UDF suffered reverses with the LDF winning three seats out of a total of five.
It also lost Adoor, which had stood with the UDF with increasing margins during the previous four elections. In the first Assembly election held in Pathanamthitta in 1987 after the formation of the district in 1982, the UDF won five seats out of a total of eight-- Konni, Adoor, Pathanamthitta, Ranni, and Aranmula-- while Kallooppara and Thiruvalla stood with the LDF. In 1991, the UDF wrested Kallooppara and Thiruvalla from the LDF, though it lost Konni.
In 1996, when there was a Left wave, both the fronts shared an equal number of seats. In 2001, the UDF won seven seats, except Ranni. However, it got only five seats in 2006. Following delimitation, Pathanamthitta had only five constituencies in 2011 and the LDF won three of them.
Mr Raju Abraham, CPM, was elected four times from Ranni. Adoor constituency, from where Mr Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan won four times, became a reservation seat and Mr Chittayam Gopakumar of CPI scored a stunning victory. Mr Mathew T. Thomas won from Thiruvalla for the second time while Mr K. Sivadasan Nair of the UDF secured Aranmula. Mr Adoor Prakash won from Konni for the fourth time.
The LDF hopes to repeat 2011 while the UDF points to the huge majority it got during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, winning all the five constituencies.
Meanwhile, the BJP that has raked up the environmental issues of Aranmula airport, hopes to get good backing from its sympathisers.
In most of the constituencies, the vote share of BJP has almost doubled and tripled indicating that the competition will be triangular in Adoor and Pathanamthitta.
The district is a plantation belt and the fall in the price of rubber will be a factor in the voters’ choice. A rubber park project that was planned at Ranni years ago has not yet been implemented.
