KOCHI: Perumbavoor famed for wood and small-scale industries and has a large concentration of migrant labourers from West Bengal and Odisha is witnessing a fierce battle this time with former district panchayat president Eldhose Kunnappilly of Congerss taking on three time sitting MLA Saju Paul of the CPM.
Saju Paul is perhaps facing the toughest opponent this time in Eldhose owing to the image the latter created while donning the mantle of district panchayat president for five years till last year. Saju Paul won the election last time by defeating Jaison Joseph of Congress with a margin of 3882 votes. He first defeated sitting MLA P P Thankachan in 2001 and then Shanimol Usman in 2006, both of the Congress.
The constituency first elected P Govinda Pillai of CPI in 1957 who defeated K A Damodara Menon of the Congress by over 800 votes. Saju Paul had a narrow margin of 1188 votes against Thankachan which shot up to 12,461 in 2006. However, this came down to 3882 in 2011. P P Thankachan represented the constituency for four terms continuously since 1982.
Jacobites are the dominant community in the constituency and P P Thankachan, Saju Paul and Eldhose Kunnappally all belong to the Jacobite community. Saju Paul is a native of Vengoor in Perumbavoor itself while the 38-year-old Eldhose comes from Muvattupuzha.
Saju Paul is still the best bet CPM and LDF can make in Perumbavoor while the support Eldhose enjoys from Thankachan, his political mentor and the development work he did in the constituency during his stint as the district panchayat president and the factor being young come to his aid in this election. The role of Benny Behnan, another Jacobite hailing from Vengola in Perumbavoor who has been denied a seat in this election, too is keenly watched in Perumbavoor.
The 49-year-old Saju Paul is a active in the cultural sphere also by being active in the Library Council. Eldhose is now the DCC vice-president. BJP’s candidate is E S Biju, Hindu Aikya Vedi state general secretary.
