<p>The voters of Kerala went to the polling booth on April 9 to elect representatives for the 16th Assembly.</p><p>The Kerala Assembly which constitutes 140 seats has mostly seen a two-cornered contest between the allies of Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) and CPI(M)-spearheaded Left Democratic Front (LDF).</p><p>But of late, with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) also making its presence in many constituencies, this time Kerala will see a three-cornered contest in many seats.</p><p>Ahead of the counting day of votes, which will be held on May 4, we look at the prestigious <strong>Nemom</strong> constituency.</p><p>BJP is pinning high hopes of reopening its account in the Kerala Assembly from Nemom with party state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar himself contesting from the seat. BJP's veteran O Rajagopal won the seat in 2016, thereby opening account for the saffron party with a majority of 8,671 over V Sivankutty of CPI(M). Personal votes of Rajagopal as well as sentiments towards the veteran who had been unsuccessfully contesting many elections were considered as factors that contributed to BJP's victory. In 2021 Sivankutty won the seat by defeating BJP leader Kummanam Rajasekharan with 3,949 votes. After BJP won the Thiruvananthapuram corporation a few months back and the party performing well in Nemom region, Chandrasekhar himself announced his candidacy at Nemom well in advance. But Sivankutty, who is a labour and general education minister and local leader of CPI(M), is quite determined to retain the seat. Congress has fielded young leader K S Sabarinadhan, who could take a share of the Hindu votes of BJP in the Hindu dominated constituency, which makes it tight for Chandrasekhar this time even as the entrepreneur-turned politician is well received by the voters.</p><p><strong>Profile of candidates</strong> </p><p><strong>CPI(M):</strong> V Sivankutty is a local leader and former city mayor. Hence he has good influence in the constituency. He is a three-time MLA.</p><p><strong>Congress:</strong> K S Sabarinadhan is the son of Congress leader late G Karthikeyan. He entered electoral politics following his father's death in 2015 and won from Aruvikkara Assembly seat in Thiruvananthapuram twice. He also led the Congress-led UDC in the recent local body elections in Thiruvananthapuram corporation and is now serving as councilor of Kowdiar ward.</p><p><strong>BJP:</strong> A former Rajya Sabha MP and union minister of state for electronics and IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar marked his entry to electoral politics by contesting in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls from Thiruvananthapuram. He gave a tight fight to Congress leader Shashi Tharoor. Last year he was made BJP state president.</p>
<p>The voters of Kerala went to the polling booth on April 9 to elect representatives for the 16th Assembly.</p><p>The Kerala Assembly which constitutes 140 seats has mostly seen a two-cornered contest between the allies of Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) and CPI(M)-spearheaded Left Democratic Front (LDF).</p><p>But of late, with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) also making its presence in many constituencies, this time Kerala will see a three-cornered contest in many seats.</p><p>Ahead of the counting day of votes, which will be held on May 4, we look at the prestigious <strong>Nemom</strong> constituency.</p><p>BJP is pinning high hopes of reopening its account in the Kerala Assembly from Nemom with party state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar himself contesting from the seat. BJP's veteran O Rajagopal won the seat in 2016, thereby opening account for the saffron party with a majority of 8,671 over V Sivankutty of CPI(M). Personal votes of Rajagopal as well as sentiments towards the veteran who had been unsuccessfully contesting many elections were considered as factors that contributed to BJP's victory. In 2021 Sivankutty won the seat by defeating BJP leader Kummanam Rajasekharan with 3,949 votes. After BJP won the Thiruvananthapuram corporation a few months back and the party performing well in Nemom region, Chandrasekhar himself announced his candidacy at Nemom well in advance. But Sivankutty, who is a labour and general education minister and local leader of CPI(M), is quite determined to retain the seat. Congress has fielded young leader K S Sabarinadhan, who could take a share of the Hindu votes of BJP in the Hindu dominated constituency, which makes it tight for Chandrasekhar this time even as the entrepreneur-turned politician is well received by the voters.</p><p><strong>Profile of candidates</strong> </p><p><strong>CPI(M):</strong> V Sivankutty is a local leader and former city mayor. Hence he has good influence in the constituency. He is a three-time MLA.</p><p><strong>Congress:</strong> K S Sabarinadhan is the son of Congress leader late G Karthikeyan. He entered electoral politics following his father's death in 2015 and won from Aruvikkara Assembly seat in Thiruvananthapuram twice. He also led the Congress-led UDC in the recent local body elections in Thiruvananthapuram corporation and is now serving as councilor of Kowdiar ward.</p><p><strong>BJP:</strong> A former Rajya Sabha MP and union minister of state for electronics and IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar marked his entry to electoral politics by contesting in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls from Thiruvananthapuram. He gave a tight fight to Congress leader Shashi Tharoor. Last year he was made BJP state president.</p>