Sabarimala issue echoes in Kerala again as bypoll nears

With Kerala heading for an assembly by-poll at Pala in Kottayam, the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) is yet again using the Sabarimala issue to attack the CPM-led Left Front government in Kerala.

The Left Front is putting up resistance by raising corruption by the previous Congress-led government in Kerala, highlighting the ongoing row over corruption in a Kochi flyover constructed during their term.

The Pala by-poll, scheduled for September 23, assumes significance for a couple of reasons.

Kerala Congress (M) founder K M Mani had been the MLA of the Pala constituency for 54 years in a row, till his death in April this year. Owing to an in-fight in the KC (M) over the party chairman post between Mani's son and Rajya Sabha MP Jose K Mani and veteran leader P J Joseph, the latter has been inactive in the ongoing by-poll campaign as the chosen UDF candidate Jose Tom Pulikunnel's name was put forth by the Jose K Mani camp of the KC (M).

The CPM is considering it as a golden opportunity to win the seat and a very confident Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan even said that the by-poll could be considered as an evaluation of his government's performance. For the Left Front, a victory in the by-poll could also lessen the damage it suffered in the Lok Sabha polls as it won only one seat in Kerala.

With the constituency having a sizable chunk of Hindu Nair community voters, the Congress camps are using the Sabarimala women entry issue in their campaign. Congress senior leader and former Defence Minister A K Antony, while speaking at a campaign meeting in Pala, challenged the Left Front government to make clear their stand on Sabarimala women entry issue.

According to a section of voters in the constituency, it would be a tight fight this time.

Though the Pala constituency was so far considered as pro-Kerala Congress (M) seat, the Left Front's candidate, Mani C Kappan of the NCP, gave a good fight to K M Mani over the last three polls. In the last Assembly polls, K M Mani's margin was only around 4,703. Hence there is a sympathy wave in favour of Mani C Kappan.

Though there is strong anti-incumbency factor against the Left Front now, the in-fight in KC(M) could be an advantage to the Left Front candidate.

The BJP has fielded its Kottayam district President N Hari at Pala for the second consecutive time. He had secured about 17 percent votes in 2016.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP's vote share in the constituency increased, while that of Left Front declined.