Wayanad, Pathanamthitta constituencies shoot to national prominence for LS elections

Pathanamthitta and Wayanad, two young Lok Sabha constituencies which are mostly not among the 'happening' ones, are now the toast of the state of Kerala and the country at large for varying reasons.

The suspense and uncertainty over the BJP and Congress candidates for these seats ended a week after the line-up of for the rest of the 18 seats in the state were announced.

While Kerala would have its first ever Prime Ministerial candidate standing from Wayanad in the North, the BJP would be using Pathanamthitta in the South-Central region as a lab for testing its Hindutva ideology.

DROPS BOMBSHELL

While the Congress dropped the equivalent of a bombshell suggesting the name of its national President Rajiv Gandhi for Wayanad, the BJP has named BJP firebrand K Surendran for Pathanamthitta in its third list.

Rahul Gandhi is yet to officially announce his candidature, the second after his home base Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, Surendran's candidacy has suddenly charged up the BJP rank and file in Pathanamthitta.

T Siddique, who is thought to have been introduced as a dummy in Wayanad, has announced his withdrawal, 'gladly' ceding what is widely considered one of the party's surest bets in the state, to Gandhi.

It is another thing that the Oommen Chandy loyalist was named after his mentor, former chief minister and amongst the senior-most leaders, won the case 'almost at gun point,' say sources.

The Pradesh Congress Committee also made formal requests to the party President to stand from Wayanad, which has been 'thankfully acknowledged,' according to Randeep Surjewala, its national spokesperson.

The Congress wants to dub this as a political master stroke, but ridiculed by rivals BJP and the ruling CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front as a defeatist strategy of a party steeped in self-doubt and vacillation.

NATIONAL LIMELIGHT

Meanwhile, an impromptu trip along the flanks of Thiruvananthapuram and Mavelikkara constituencies into what is the emerging core of the 'Hindutva' (read Sabarimala) land of Pathanamthitta was instructive.

Pathanamthitta shot to national limelight as the constituency housing the Ayyappa Temple at Sabarimala where the Supreme Court allowed entry of women of all ages, against rituals and traditions.

Both the BJP and the Congress chose to ride the Hindu devouts' backlash against the court order while the ruling CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front said it was duty-bound to implement it.

This set the context for the high-octane contest to prove which among the three political formations would go on to get the endorsement from the 'people's court' with respect to their positions on Sabarimala.

While the LDF and the opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) have finished two rounds of campaigning in Pathanamthitta, lack of a candidate seem to have held back the BJP from going all out.

Things had come to a pass that even ex-Rajya Sabha Vice-Chairman and senior Congress leader PJ Kurian was rumoured could emerge as a dark horse BJP candidate to address the sizeable Christian votes.

'ALSO-RAN' CONGRESS

In Kanjirappally, Ramesh, an autorickshaw driver, said that Surendran is his candidate and 'they' (his fellow drivers) would go to any length to ensure his victory.

For him, Congress was just an 'also-ran' in terms of its delayed and hesitant support to the Sabarimala cause but Surendran had shown the way how to fight for it, even if it meant arrest, remand, and a stint in jail.

Asked if the rival LDF and the UDF had not already stolen a march on the campaign trail, Ramesh and friends said it is just a matter of time before BJP would catch up, with support from like-minded cadres.

They would go to any length to defeat UDF's sitting MP Anto Antony and LDF's sitting MLA Veena George who were being fielded to win over the Christian votes, and not necessarily uphold the Sabarimala sentiments.

Pathanamthitta comprises seven Assembly constituencies. In the 2016 Assembly elections, the UDF won two, the LDF four while one went to an unaffiliated candidate.

None of these seats feature among the seven in the state where BJP came up second in the 2016 elections, but observers are watching as to what extent the Sabarimala campaign could swing votes in 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

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