Congress uncertainty, CPM's celebrity candidate and Sobha Surendran; Palakkad heats up for bypolls

Bypolls are around the corner in Palakkad. Apart from Palakkad, the by-election notification for Chelakkara and Wayanad constituencies is also expected to be announced next week. The assembly session will end on the 15th of this month. Minding this, the advisory committee decided to skip the three-day meeting.

Nobody expects big wonders to happen in Wayanad and Chelakkara. But Palakkad is an anomaly and is preparing for a three-way contest. The UDF camp is set to repeat the hat-trick victory and keep their bastion intact.

VK Sreekandan's victory in the Lok Sabha elections with a record majority boosts expectations. Discussions of candidates are active and around six names including that of the senior leader are being considered. Being a constituency with more than 40,000 minority votes, it will be an easy game for Congress to find an amicable face to script a win. However, too much complacency could cause them an upset since Palakkad throughout the years has seen a burgeoning rise in support for BJP.

The first phase of the list included names of Youth Congress state president Rahul Mamkootathil, Former MLA VT. Balram, and KPCC Digital Media Cell Convener Dr. P. Sarin. Even former KPCC president K Muraleedharan has made it into the list of possible candidates. Muraleedahran had earlier made clear his decision to not contest from Palakkad, but it seems that there happened some serious organizational changes within the party.

Senior leader Kummanam Rajasekaran sought comments from BJP office-bearers about the candidates the other day. State President K. Surendran, State General Secretary C. Krishnakumar and District President K. M. Haridas are currently on the panel. Apart from this, the names of former Union Minister V. Muraleedharan and Shobha Surendran are being discussed. According to insiders, C Krishnakumar, a popular face of the party is likely to be chosen as the candidate for the elections.

Discussions are also in full swing inside the BJP camp, since it was only by a wafer-thin margin that the party lost the seat during the 2021 elections.

CPM leadership is preparing to solve the heavy setback and organizational weakness in Palakkad constituency with these bypolls. It is reported that the district and state leadership of the party approached retired police surgeon Dr P. B. Gujral and a famous dancer hailing from Palakkad to represent the party in elections. DYFI state president V Wasif, former MLA TK Noushad and district committee member Nidhin Kanichery, are also under consideration. District panchayat president K. Binumol is also being considered due to her popularity with the public.

Amidst the candidate selection, big squabbles are unfolding within BJP as many favour K Surendran as an ideal candidate, capable of breaking the deadlock in the district. Some others are highly vociferous in their support for Sobha Surendran, who gave nightmares to opposition candidates in Alappuzha with her stunning performance. Sobha got 2.99 lakh votes, a jump of one lakh votes than the party got in the last Lok Sabha elections in the communist bastion of Alappuzha.

With Palakkad offering a conducive climate to win, many favour Sobha over Surendran, leading to small squabbles within the party. Sobha has more support in the internal survey conducted by the BJP regarding her candidature. The survey was conducted under the leadership of Kummanam Rajasekaran, a senior leader and former BJP president. The survey data will soon be forwarded to the state and national leadership.

Palakkad is the constituency where the BJP came second in the 2021 assembly elections. Congress candidate Shafi Parambil survived a scare after taking the lead in the final lap and thus defeating Metro Man E. Sreedharan. Shafi won with a majority of 3858 votes. BJP believes in roping in more votes from the Congress camp this time, taking leverage of Shafi's absence.