LDF
pins hopes on Malampuzha win
A. Satish
Malampuzha,
May 9: CPI(M) strongman V.S. Achuthanandan who lost from his
home turf of Mararikulam in 1996 hopes to be elected form Malampuzha
this time.
From all indications, Mararikulam won’t be repeated in Malampuzha,
a CPI(M) citadel. The only question is whether he would surpass
the 19,000-vote margin of incumbent MLA and Finance Minister T.
Sivadasa Menon.
The Congress’ youthful Satheesan Pacheni, state KSU president,
with his disciplined campaigning has managed to tie down Achuthanandan
to his constituency. The CPI(M) campaign managers, however, say
they can guarantee a margin of around 10,000 votes.
Achuthanandan has gone ahead and released his book Class Struggle
in Villages. Political circles are aflutter over the timing and
the political fallout of the critical references to revered past
community leaders such as Mannathu Padmanabhan and R. Shankar. But
it has come a bit too late for Achuthanandan’s
opponents to make it a campaign issue. The CPI(M) leader, aware
of his enemies’ potential to upset his applecart, is taking
no chances. His campaign’s headstart has helped him cover all
eight panchayats three times over.
The CPI(M) has
perhaps deliberately not used the incumbent MLA’s services
for Achuthanandan’s campaign. Menon, nursing the constituency
from 1987, was put off when the Achuthanandan faction in the party
sidelined him and later denied a ticket, going against the central
leadership’s norm.
Menon had accompanied Achuthanandan to the constituency before the
official candidates’ list was announced. He had introduced
the strongman to voters in all eight panchayats within two days.
Though Menon’s services were drafted in all the neighbouring
constituencies, he was kept out of Malampuzha. The party instead
asked MP N.N. Krishnadas and CPM state secretariat member Kandamoothan
to accompany Achuthanandan.
The party, however, has not glossed over the fact that Menon has
roots in the constituency. It is aware that in 1996, when the Assembly
and Parliamentary polls were held simultaneously, Menon secured
3,000 more votes than Krishnadas from Malampuzha.
When political analysts were reading much into Menon’s absence,
the party scheduled some low-profile meetings for him last week
and that too without Achuthanandan.
But Krishnadas said: ‘‘People know that Achuthanandan
is identified with the farmers because of his crusade for their
rights. So the traditional agricultural labourers and small farmers
who dominate this constituency will stand by him.’’ To
strike the right note with farmers, Achuthanandan keeps his speeches
brief and to the point. The arrival of KSU and Youth Congress volunteers
from Kannur, Pacheni’s home town, and other parts of the state
had created ripples in Malampuzha.
|
|
