THRISSUR: Thrissur district will grab national attention if the Congress high command decides to field KPCC president V.M. Sudheeran from Thrissur or his native Manalur constituency. The contest will be no less interesting if it opts for K. Karunakaran’s daughter Padmaja Venugopal from Thrissur or Chalakkudy.
The contest in Wadakkanchery has already become a starry affair with the LDF mantle falling on actor K.P. A.C. Lalitha. She has confirmed that CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan had spoken to her about the candidature. Both the LDF and UDF have tasted huge victories and defeats in the district. In the last Lok Sabha and local body elections, the LDF had an edge.
In 2001, when there was a wave in favour of the UDF and won 99 seats in the state, it pocketed 11 out of 14 seats in the district. In the 2006 Assembly elections, when the LDF won 100 seats in the state, the district gave it 10 seats.
It was a neck and neck race in 2011 and the LDF won seven out of the total 13 seats in Thrissur. In the Lok Sabha polls in 2014 and the local body elections in 2015, the LDF candidates were favoured by the voters in most constituencies.
Apart from winning the Thrissur corporation, out of the seven municipalities, the LDF won the majority in three and was the single largest party in two. The UDF won in two.
In the 86 grama panchayats, the LDF gained majority in 67 and the UDF in 18. The Left swept the district panchayat by winning 20 out of 29 seats. This time, two Congress veterans, K. P. Viswanathan and C.N. Balakrishnan, have opted out of the contest and the party is yet to decide on fielding Mr Therambil Ramakrishnan, who has won from Thrissur six times.
The UDF sitting MLAs, T. N. Prathapan, M.P. Vincent and Thomas Unnyadan, and LDF’s K.V. Abdul Khader, V.S. Sunil Kumar and C. Ravindranathan will be in the fray. Though the BJP put up a good show in Thrissur municipality by increasing its tally from two to six and became the major party in Avinissery grama panchayat, it stands little chance of winning a seat in the district.
The Church has decisive influence in Thrissur, Ollur and Chalakkudy constituencies. While the UDF will highlight its developmental activities in the past five years, the rallying point for the LDF will be the allegations of corruption against the Oommen Chandy government.
