LS polls: Thrissur set to witness triangular fight in Kerala

Thiruvananthapuram, March 9 (IANS) Thrissur, the cultural capital of Kerala, will witness a triangular fight between CPI-M, Congress and BJP in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

Although the poll dates have not been announced, however, all three main political parties have named their candidates and the election campaigns are also underway.

The ruling Left has named the former Agriculture Minister V.S. Sunilkumar; the BJP has named the popular actor Suresh Gopi; while the Congress has decided on K. Muraleedharan, who is the sitting member from the Badagara Lok Sabha constituency in Kozhikode district.

The sitting Thrissur MP of the Congress T.N. Prathapan won the 2019 polls with 93,633 votes defeating CPI leader Rajaji Mathew Thomas.

In 2019, the BJP managed to finish in second place in Thiruvananthapuram out of the 20 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

In January this year, Prime Minister Modi kick-started the campaign of Gopi in Thrissur and also addressed an all-women gathering.

Muraleedharan said that he is pleased to return to his hometown where he was born and his campaign will begin after visiting his house in Thrissur where his parents live.

“CPI-M and the BJP are hand-in-glove. Whatever happens, the Congress at no cost will allow the BJP to win in Kerala. Nemom assembly constituency is the best example. The BJP lost their only sitting seat in the Kerala Assembly which they won in 2016,” said Muraleedharan.

Muraleedharan, though he finished third, garnered sizeable votes pushing the BJP candidate to second place, making the incumbent State Education Minister V. Sivankutty win the Nemom seat.

With a very strong Catholic Christian community in Thrissur, Gopi appears confident and has tried his best to make inroads into the powerful domain of Catholic priests.

Sunilkumar, however, sits comfortably as all the seven assembly constituencies -- that make up the Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency -- (four CPI-M and three CPI) are held by the ruling Left.

With Sunilkumar and Gopi already hitting the campaign trail and Muraleedharan beginning his on Saturday, Thrissur is set to witness what perhaps will be one of the most keenly contested triangular-fights in Kerala.