Cong has a tough fight in Wayanad

Barely two weeks to go for the Lok Sabha election, the Congress party and the ruling United Democratic Front (UDF) are yet to put up a solid defence of Wayanad.

With the region’s development and the farmers’ fears surrounding the K Kasturirangan panel report on Western Ghats snowballing into a major political issue, the Congress candidate and sitting MP M I Shanavas has a difficult task convincing voters here on his commitment to act for their welfare.

Not so surprisingly, he is unlikely to find Elections this time a breeze as it was five years
ago.

Among the 11 sitting MPs the Congress has fielded in Kerala, Shanavas is perhaps the only one who is facing open dissent from some of his own party-men and cadres of Congress allies.

Interestingly, he had won the 2009 election with a margin of over 1.5 lakh votes, the highest for any candidate in Kerala in that election.

The opposition Left Democratic Front (LDF) has fielded Sathyan Mokeri of the CPI in Wayanad. The CPI that formally launched its road campaign in Nilambur on Tuesday is looking beyond the Congress’ internal troubles and is focusing on pitfalls in the Kasturirangan report. Vijayan Cherukara, CPI district secretary, says the union and state governments’ stance on the report had led to erosion of support for the UDF among farmers in Wayanad.