|
Unnikollam: Where are the posters, the jeeps flying the party pennant, tapes blaring the candidates' stirring speeches, the election cavalcade? In Kerala's Koduvally constituency, made up of eight villages awash in the largesse of its Gulf-based sons and daughters, there is an odd silence. This is either the best organised election campaign ever or the result is a foregone conclusion. While the rest of the state will probably heave the incumbent Oomen Chandy-led government to one side and cleave towards the Left, Koduvally and its eight pastoral boroughs could vote in K. Muraleedharan, son of ageing Congress stalwart K. Karunakaran, the man that has sent many confusing signals in the last few months.
Karunakaran broke with the mother Congress party, allied himself with the Left and played a huge role in their recent win in local body elections and a Thiruvanthapuram by-poll defeat. Then, abandoned by the Left, they did a deal with Congress chairperson Sonia Gandhi's envoy Veerappa Moily, and are now fighting this election alongside the Congress and the League. Today, the only visible sign that this prosperous farming community will soon vote, is a lone four wheel drive. In the passenger seat is Murali, joint candidate of the United Democratic Alliance. Perfect positioning, because the former Congressman, who together with his acerbic father, K. Karunakaran, head the Democratic Indira Congress (Karunakaran), is not in the driving seat. This is Muslim League country, where since the constituency was created in 1977, only a League candidate has won. If Murali wins it will be not because of the developmental work he's put into this constituency which he's represented as part of his larger parliamentary seat, but because the Muslim League has thrown its weight behind him. League strongman P. Kunhalikutty had spoken out very strongly for the need to support the father and son, overruling others in the party including seniors like the ailing Shihab Thangal, who is scheduled for major brain surgery in the United States and E. Ahamed, who did not want to have any truck with Karunakaran. Some within the League suspect this is part of a secret deal that sees Kunhalikutty facilitating the allocation of a safe seat for Murali and some 17 others in return for backing the League leader as chief minister in the event the UDF wins this assembly election.
|
