It is not the candidates in the fray but the one missing who looms large over the electoral scene in the coastal constituency of Vypeen.
Two-time legislator from Vypeen S. Sarma had turned the constituency into a Left fortress, with his majority of nearly 20,000 votes in the second contest being the best for an LDF candidate in the district.
Sarma’s absence is as much a loss to the LDF as it is an opportunity for the UDF, though the campaign managers of both the fronts will not admit it. Mr. Sarma has the ability to draw votes cutting across caste and communal equations while holding on to his solid vote bank of the fishing community banking on his goodwill as a former Fisheries Minister.
Transferring those votes en-bloc to its candidate K.N. Unnikrishnan would be easier said than done for the LDF, and that leaves the UDF camp hopeful of the prospects of its candidate Deepak Joy. The BJP’s K.S. Shaiju and Twenty20 candidate Job Chakkalakkal complete the electoral scene.
Discounting Mr. Joy’s single stint as a councillor of the Kochi Corporation in the UDF-led previous council, all four are debutants. That both LDF and UDF candidates belong to the Ezhava community leaves neither with an edge on that account, whereas the BJP candidate’s Dheevara community background may play to his advantage in some pockets of the fishing community. Except for Mr. Shaiju, none are from the constituency either.
The rumblings within the Congress over seat allocation meant that the UDF had announced its candidate a fortnight after the LDF’s announcement. INTUC leader K.P. Haridas, with the solid backing of the trade union, was one of the aspirants, and the Congress, in an effort to avert a rebellion, made him the District Congress Committee (DCC) working president.
The UDF camp claimed that the disputes were behind it and was now a united force behind the young candidate who is also the national coordinator of the Youth Congress. The proposed visit of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to the constituency, tentatively scheduled for next week, has upped the spirit of the UDF campaign managers.
Unlike its prominence in Kunnathunadu, where it is a force to reckon with, Twenty20 remains a marginal player in the coastal constituency, according to election observers.
Drinking water shortage, city entry of private buses, inundation of houses during high tide, and demand for coastal highway are among the main campaign issues in the constituency.
Of the eight panchayats constituting the constituency, the UDF won Mulavukad, Edavanakkad, Nayarambalam and Elamkunnapuzha panchayats in the local body polls, while the LDF bagged Kadamakkudy, Kuzhupilly, Njarakkal and Pallippuram panchayats.
