Kerala CPI(M) straining to turn Ponnani Lok Sabha 'Left'

Thiruvananthapuram, March 27 (IANS) The Pinarayi Vijayan-led Left in Kerala is straining hard to see if after five decades of electoral battles, they can turn the Ponnani Lok Sabha seat towards the ‘Left’.

The last time the CPI(M)-led Left won from Ponnani was way back in 1971 after which it was a saga of victory for the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), the second-biggest partner in the Congress-led UDF.

Ponnani is often referred to as a fortress of the IUML and so confident is the party that it has done some switches this time.

Its sitting Lok Sabha member, ET Mohammed Basheer, after registering hat trick wins from this seat has been moved to the neighbouring Malappuram Lok Sabha constituency and the league has now shifted the sitting Lok Sabha member, MP Abdussamad Samadani from Malappuram to Ponnani.

On paper, the IUML is sitting pretty as ET Mohammed Basheer won the 2019 polls from here with a margin of over 1.93 lakh votes.

The CPI(M) is hoping against hope that the reason why ET Mohammed Basheer was shifted was because he has lost his sheen and the IUML had to bring in its ideologue Abdussamad Samadani.

However, the CPI(M) has got a prized catch in KS Hamsa a former top IUML leader who has already begun campaigning in a big way.

On its part, the BJP has brought in Nivedida Subramanian, state President of the BJP’s Mahila Morcha, a popular leader with a favourable family history.

Her mother, also a former state BJP President was jailed for taking part in a protest march during the Emergency period in 1975.

Incidentally, the BJP was able to increase its votes from 75,000 in the 2014 polls to over 1.10 lakhs in the 2019 elections and with a popular women’s leader, they are hopeful of putting up a good show.

However, the CPI(M) is banking on its performance in the 2021 Assembly polls, when out of the seven Assembly segments in the Ponnani Lok Sabha constituency, the Left won three, leaving the four other segments to the IUML.