Mavelikara Constituency: Kodikunnil Suresh Aims For The Fourth Consecutive Win As LDF Seeks Change

The Mavelikara constituency stretches across three districts: Alappuzha, Kollam, and Kottayam, covering seven assembly seats. These comprise Kuttanad, Mavelikara, and Chengannur in Alappuzha district; Kunnathur, Kottarakkara, and Pathanapuram in Kollam district; and Changanassery in Kottayam district.

In the upcoming election, the biggest concern for this constituency is whether the voters will propose change or prefer continuity. There are striking issues that need to be addressed in the forthcoming election since the constituency entails a diverse topography, including forests, lakes, paddy fields, and high-altitude regions. The constituency’s pressing issues include the endless problems faced by Kuttanad’s poultry farmers, the suffering of cashew farmers as a result of an extraordinary crash that forced a shutdown of about 75 factories, the difficulties faced by rubber farmers and the threat posed by wild animals, and Kuttanad region’s experiences with drought and flood. The concerns of rice farmers continue to be a challenge for all candidates to address.

Following the delimitation of the Lok Sabha constituency in 1962, the United Democratic Front (UDF) won this seat in 13 of the 15 elections, while the Left Democratic Front (LDF) only managed two wins. After its classification as a SC category parliament seat under the 2008 Delimitation Act, the Mavelikara constituency has been reclaimed by the Congress from the LDF following Kodikunnil Suresh’s victory in his first contest in 2009. Interestingly, the “Modi wave” in 2014 has aided PS Sudheer, the then BJP candidate in the constituency who came third, was able to increase the BJP vote share from 40,992 votes with 5.1% (in 2009) to 79,743 votes with 9.0%. In 2019, as the “Rahulism” wave hit Kerala, Kodikunnil Suresh won the constituency for the third time with a record lead of 61,138 votes and a 45.4% vote share.

With just 39.1% of the votes, the LDF candidate Chittayam Gopakumar witnessed a decline in the number of votes received. Meanwhile, Thazhava Sahadevan, the Bharath Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS) candidate, backed by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), secured 133,546 votes and increased the vote share to 13.8% for the first time, continuing the trend of increasing vote shares over the years.

The course of the election is greatly influenced by Hindu caste-based organisations because the seat is reserved for the Scheduled Castes. Based on the 2019 Election Commission statistics, there are 1,205,682 voters in this region, of whom 64.42 percent belong to various Hindu communities, 21.84 percent are Christian voters, and 13.71 percent are Muslim voters. According to the 2011 census, 16.3% of people live in cities, while 83.7% live in rural areas.

The headquarters of the Nair Service Society (NSS) are located in Perunna, within Mavelikara constituency. NSS votes are pivotal for every candidate, so the Kerala Pulayar Maha Sabha (KPMS) vote bank. The main centres of different Christian churches, including the eparchies of the Catholic Church, the Viswakarma Society, and the presence of the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (SNDP), all contribute to making the political race in the constituency more complex. Kodikunnil Suresh will benefit from his relationship with NSS as he seeks his fourth consecutive win.

As C Monichan, Manthara Velayudhan, and Kozhuvasseril Suresh run as independents in Mavelikara, Santhosh Palathumpadan of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), K Bimalji of the Socialist Unity Centre of India (SUCI), and Suresh Nooranad of the Ambedkarite Party of India (AP) are other candidates from various political parties contesting in the electoral race this time.

(This story is part of a Timeline. internship project.)