Be it an Assembly poll or Lok Sabha election, the martyrdom of Revolutionary Marxist Party of India (RMPI) founder T.P. Chandrasekharan will be a topic of discussion in the politically sensitive Onchiyam and Eramala grama panchayats of Kozhikode. And it gets more intense during local body elections.
After Chandrasekharan’s murder on May 4, 2012 the RMPI’s attempts to emerge as a force against the Communist Party of India (Marxist) continue to be a tale of endurance.
Though the candidate list in its strongholds of Onchiyam, Eramala, Chorod, and Azhiyoor is not ready, the RMPI’s desire for an electoral bond with the United Democratic Front (UDF) is likely to be stronger this time.
A three-cornered contest is unlikely in any of these sensitive panchayats, where the battle lines are clearly between the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the UDF.
Talks on
Discussions are in the final phase in the RMPI to retain all seats in its strongholds in an understanding with the UDF to take its fight to the LDF.
For the parties, the results were tricky in the last elections in Onchiyam, the main battlefield of the RMPI. Neither the RMPI nor the LDF nor the UDF got a clear mandate. The RMPI won six seats, LDF seven, and the UDF four in the 17-member grama panchayat.
With the support of the UDF, the RMPI got the posts of president and vice president in the panchayat.
CPI(M) unperturbed
At the same time, the CPI(M) is not unduly worried. It believes that the RMPI is losing ground, citing the latter’s performance in successive polls. The RMPI which won eight seats in 2010 got only six in 2015.
It points to the last Assembly elections when the RMPI could not make much of an impact in any of the 11 seats it contested after a heated campaign. Even K.K. Rema, wife of T.P. Chandrasekharan, one of the strong contestants could not secure more than 20,504 votes in Vadakara. However, the party could improve its total vote share compared to that of the previous elections.
The RMPI seeks to gain in the coming local body polls, given the allegations against the State government. It thinks anti-incumbency and diplomatic baggage gold smuggling case will stand it in good stead at the hustings.
Meanwhile, LDF, as usual, will seek to blame the RMPI for its undeclared alliance with the UDF. How it will resonate with the electorate is the question in the minds of many observers.
