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The upcoming Lok Sabha election will be the first major test of political acumen for the present bosses of the main parties in Kerala.
This is the first general election for M.V. Govindan, State secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)]; Binoy Viswam, State secretary of the Communist Party of India (CPI); K. Sudhakaran, president, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee; V.D. Satheesan, Leader of the Opposition; and Panakkad Syed Sadikali Shihab Thangal, State president, Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), after they assumed charge of their respective posts.
Mr. Govindan succeeded the late Kodiyeri Balakrishnan as CPI(M) State secretary, when the latter vacated the post due to ill-health in August 2022. He was in charge of the Excise and Local Self-Government departments in the Pinarayi Vijayan Cabinet then.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the CPI(M) could win only one seat, Alappuzha, in the State. Mr. Govindan’s attempt will be to improve the party’s performance by increasing the number of MPs from the State, which is also crucial in retaining the CPI(M)’s status as a national party. He will have to battle the alleged anti-incumbency feeling against the government, which is plagued by a severe financial crisis leading to compromises on the delivery of social security benefits.
Almost similar is the case with Mr. Viswam, who replaced Kanam Rajendran as the CPI State secretary in December 2023 after the latter’s death. The CPI failed to win any seat in 2019 and winning at least two seats will be his priority. The party is contesting from the Mavelikara, Thrissur, Wayanad, and Thiruvananthapuram constituencies. The chemistry between Mr. Viswam and Mr. Govindan too will be keenly watched.
For Mr. Sudhakaran, the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) candidate from Kannur seeking a second term as MP, the election poses two challenges. He needs to retain his seat as well as the others won by his party in 2019. The UDF had emerged victorious in 19 of the 20 Lok Sabha segments in Kerala, with 15 of them landing in the Congress’ kitty. Mr. Sudhakaran will also have to set aside the alleged differences of opinion with Mr. Satheesan and his perceived tilt towards Hindutva politics, and also explain the defection of Congress leaders to the BJP. This is the first instance in recent times when a KPCC president is contesting a Lok Sabha election.
Litmus test
Mr. Satheesan, who replaced Ramesh Chennithala as the Leader of the Opposition in 2021, too will have to prove that the bypoll victories from the Thrikkakkara and Puthuppally Assembly constituencies were no fluke. This is also the first Lok Sabha election after the passing away of former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy. Another former Chief Minister A.K. Antony is not active in politics any more. That way, it is also a litmus test for both Mr. Satheesan and Mr. Sudhakaran.
Stand-off with Samastha
The Thangal had been handling the IUML affairs when his elder brother and the former party president, Panakkad Syed Hyderali Shihab Thangal, fell ill. The younger Thangal took over the mantle in March 2022 after his brother’s death. In the 2021 Assembly polls, the votes garnered by IUML candidates, including those who won, had dipped. His tasks include maintaining the IUML’s hegemony over the party’s traditional strongholds of Malappuram and Ponnani Lok Sabha seats and backing up the Congress in other major constituencies in the Malabar region. He also has to make sure that the reported stand-off with the Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama, the influential Sunni scholars’ forum that is the backbone of the party, doesn’t reflect in the electoral results.
Meanwhile, K. Surendran, BJP State president, who is on an extended tenure in the post, is likely to be replaced after the election.
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