KOLLAM: The BJP has high hopes of Mr B.B. Gopakumar, a local SNDP leader, winning the Chathannoor seat. The party has completed eight rounds of campaign with only the road show pending. He is fighting a pitched battle against sitting CPI MLA G.S. Jayalal and Mr Sooranad Rajasekharan of the Congress.
Mr Gopakumar is popular in the constituency as the taluk union secretary of the SNDP Yogam. He had intervened in the Meenad brick kiln issue in favour of the workers. The BJP is eyeing the Ezhava votes though he is not contesting on the BDJS banner but on the lotus symbol.
The BJP had gained 31,000 votes in the recent local body polls. It had secured nearly 18,000 votes in the last Lok Sabha elections and nearly 7,000 votes in the last Assembly elections. The BJP is focusing on grassroots-level campaign. The candidate has also completed eight rounds of house visits.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the Puttingal temple fire site may prove positive for the BJP especially in areas like Paravoor, Meenad and Chathannoor town. CPI candidate G.S. Jayalal is in his final rounds of electioneering focussing on developments, including the integrated education programmes he had implemented in various schools in the constituency as an MLA.
However, he has lost support by not backing the local people in the Adichanalloor cement bricks factory issue that has disturbed the natural ecosystem and the drinking water supply in the area. Congress candidate Sooranad Rajasekharan, KPCC general secretary, is also cashing in on the developmental works by the UDF government.
