THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Manjeswaram is one of the constituencies where there are chances for a triangular contest.
The CPM has fielded a strong candidate to wrestle back the seat.
C H Kunhambu’s name was doing the rounds but Shankar Rai’s name came out only at the last minute.
In the 2006 assembly election, Kunhambu had given a shocking defeat to Cherkulam Abdullah of Muslim League. But this time Shankar Rai was brought in after considering the current political circumstances.
Shankar Rai is the CPM’s Kasargod district committee member.

The CPM’s expectation is that it will able to make a strong comeback though it was relegated to the third position in the last election. Shankar Rai blames last year’s failure on technicality and is optimistic this time.

Political observers believe that Shankar, a leader and Yakshagana artiste from Kannada region, will be able to make a great impact on people in the constituency where linguistic minorities have a strong influence.
It is evaluated that regional arguments against UDF candidate and the attempt being made by the BJP to make former Congress leader Subba Rai its candidate led the CPM to make Shankar Rai the LDF candidate.