Though the result of the assembly by-election from Palakkad scheduled to be held on November 20 is not going to make any change in Kerala politics, the bout is poised for a nail biting finish if the grand finale of the campaign that concluded on Monday evening is any indication.
The constituency is witnessing a three-cornered contest between the Congress, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPIM) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Since 2011, the constituency has turned into a Congress stronghold as Shafi Parambil has won all the three Assembly polls.
The by-poll was necessitated after Parambil was elected to the Lok Sabha in the 2024 General Election. The Congress is not leaving any stone unturned to retain the seat. The party has fielded Rahul Mamkoottathil while the CPI(M) is depending on S Sarith, a Congress turncoat. Meanwhile, the BJP is depending on C Krishnakumar, an old warhorse of the Sangh Parivar.
The defection of Sandeep Varrier, BJP's TV channel panelist, to the Congress has come as a morale booster to the grand old party. The Hindutva brigade, however, remains unperturbed. Meanwhile, cadres of the CPI(M) are yet to accept Sarith, who was spitting venom on chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and party secretary MV Govindan till the other day.
The Waqf Board related controversy has put the CPI(M) and the Congress in a quandary as any comments against the demand of the Board is likely to antagonise the Muslim community in the state. The Waqf Board has declared that the entire coastal village of Cherai-Munambam as Waqf property and want the residents evicted at the earliest.
While the CPI(M) and the Congress find themselves in a Catch-22 situation, the BJP and the RSS have come out openly supporting the locals, who are face dispossession of their homes and lands.
Pinarayi Vijayan's criticism of Panakkad Sadiq Ali Thangal, president of Muslim League, has shocked the Muslims in the state for whom the latter is a spiritual leader. "Till the other day Vijayan and the CPI(M) leaders were singing peans of Thangal. Once they understood that Thangal will not dance to their tunes, they turned against us," said PK Kunhalikutty, former minister for industries.
MV Govindan, party secretary of Kerala CPI(M), said that Thangal was an ordinary politician and not above criticism. Govindan had said in a recent press meet that Thangal was a secular leader but chief minister Vijayan alleged during a campaign meeting that Thangal was yet another face of the Jama-at-e Islami.
Though the result of Palakkad by-poll is unlikely to make any changes in Kerala politics immediately, the state's political landscape is likely to witness a realignment.
