It was from Cherthala Assembly constituency that K.R. Gouri, former Communist firebrand, got elected to the first Kerala Assembly in 1957 and went on to become the Revenue Minister in the EMS Nampoothiripad-headed Communist government in the State.
She was re-elected from Cherthala in 1960. The constituency had elected former Chief Minister A.K. Antony (1970, 1996 and 2001), veteran Congress leader Vayalar Ravi (1982 and 1987) and former Communist Party of India (CPI) State secretary C.K. Chandrappan (1991), thus attaining the status of a VIP constituency.
Incumbent Food and Supplies Minister P. Thilothaman of the CPI completed a hat-trick of wins in Cherthala when he defeated his nearest rival S. Sarath of the Congress by a margin of 7,196 votes in the 2016 polls.
Despite being seen as a traditional stronghold of the left front, Cherthala had embraced the United Democratic Front (UDF) several times.
After winning thrice, Mr. Thilomathan will not be in the fray this time. The CPI is set to field party State executive member P. Prasad. In the UDF, the seat will be contested by Congress, which is yet to finalise a candidate. In the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), Bharath Dharma Jana Sena will field P.S. Jyothis, former CPI member and Thanneeermukkom grama panchayat president.
While the Left Democratic Front (LDF) hopes to retain the constituency, the UDF is aiming to wrest the seat after a gap of 15 years. The presence of the NDA, which secured 19,614 votes in 2016 Assembly polls and 22,655 votes in the Assembly segment in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections could not be overlooked.
The recent election history whether the 2019 Lok Sabha polls or 2020 local body polls, however, favours the LDF most. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the LDF had an upper hand in the Assembly segment polling 16,895 more votes than the UDF.
Among the local bodies in the constituency, the LDF is in power in Cherthala South, Thanneermukkom, Vayalar, Muhamma, and Kanjikuzhy along with the Cherthala municipality. The UDF rules Pattanakkad and Kadakarappally grama panchayats.…………………………..
