The war cries will be shrill this time for the by-election seats

By O.J.George

The three by-elections to Kerala Assembly, which should have been a low-key affair, are turning out to be fiery. For sure, by-election to Kannur Assembly constituency, will see more fire works than anywhere else in the state.

Assembly seats of Kannur, Ernakulam and Alappuzha have been the sitting bastions of the Congress Party. K.Sudhakaran in Kannur, K.V.Thomas in Ernakulam and K.C.Venugopal in Alappuzha were elected to the Lok Sabh and hence the by-elections to the Assembly seats. The new incumbents would not have even two years to go in the Assembly. Still it is a question of prestige.

For the CPM the most prestigious seat is Kannur where the Congress Party has drafted its ex-whiz kid A.P.Abdulla Kutty as its own candidate.
In the normal circumstances, the CPM would not tolerate someone who had left its fold. That way Abdulla Kutty is persona non grata. By hooks or crooks he has to be taught a lesson. All the three Jayarajans, E.P, P. and M.V, are collectively mopping up their tactics to beat Abdulla Kutty. M.V.Jayarajan himself is the candidate taking on Abdulla Kutty.
Now a tussle is going on regarding alleged hanky-panky in inclusion of additional voters. Kannur’s stormy petrel K.Sudhakaran has demanded worksheets from the officials regarding addition of new voters. The deputy tahsildar is not amenable to giving away the details.
Union Minister Vayalar Ravi has advised the District Collector to give up election duties himself in the wake of allegations of irregularities.

In Ernakulam the CPM candidate appears to be a low-key person compared to M.V.Jayarajan in Kannur. CPI has its candidate in Alappuzha who is the owner of three elephants. These are all only players in the democratic exercise.

The CPM has some solace these days that it could successfully muster enough people to stage a human chain across the state. That has proved to be a morale-booster for the party which has been a victim of groupism. Chief Minister V.S.Achuthanandan is also contributing to the success of the LDF candidates.

In fact, the CPM has nothing to lose even if it loses all the three seats, for these were held by the Congress Party. Conversely, if it wins one seat, it will be a world of victory for it.

And if that winning seat happens to be Kannur, the CPM would have a hell of a celebration.

That does not mean, the Congress Party will leave its seats to anyone. The Congress and the UDF are doing everything possible to retain the seats. The war cries will be shrill this time.