Made Vayalar Ravi victorious twice, defeated him later; coup in Chirayinkeezhu

The old Chirayinkeezhu Lok Sabha constituency that later evolved into Attingal was the venue of many memorable electoral battles. The most famous battle took place in 1971. The Punnapra-Vayalar struggle had played a significant role in the growth of the Communist movement in Kerala. Ravi, a young leader brought up by the KSU from the soil of Vayalar, was the Congress candidate in Chirayinkeezhu in 1971.

The Congress had initially planned to once again field R Shankar, who had unexpectedly lost to K Anirudhan in the previous election. However, the great Indira Gandhi thought differently. She decided to field bright young leaders as the party's candidates. Thus, Vayalar Ravi was named the candidate in Chirayinkeezhu as per Indira's special interest. KP Unnikrishnan was named the candidate in Vadakara. The Left Front fielded 44-year-old Varkala Radhakrishnan against 34-year-old Vayalar Ravi. Political centres did not expect Vayalar Ravi to win as Communist K Anirudhan had won from the constituency in the previous elections. Both parties campaigned extensively. When the results came, Vayalar Ravi won with a majority of 49,272 votes, shocking the left centres. It was another surprise victory in the constituency.

In 1977, Vayalar Ravi was once again fielded as a Congress candidate. The CPM decided to end Ravi's dominance by fielding K Anirudhan, who toppled R Shankar. Although the CPM devised plans to defeat Ravi, their calculations went wrong as Vayalar Ravi's majority increased to 60,925 votes.

Congress defeats Ravi

The Congress split in the very next year. Vayalar Ravi left the Indira camp and joined the Antony Congress. Antony Congress, on the other hand, made peace with the Left. As a result, Vayalar Ravi was named the LDF candidate from Chirayinkeezhu in the 1980 Lok Sabha election. The Congress has fielded AA Rahim against him. As the election came after a change in the front lines, it was impossible to predict the outcome of the contest. However, political centres expected Ravi to win on the basis of his good performance in the Parliament etc. However, when the results came, Vayalar Ravi lost by 6063 votes.