Major parties get into campaign mode as some still iron out a few more wrinkles

In less than three weeks nearly 2.70 crore voters in Kerala will elect their representatives for the 15th Legislative Assembly. The poll campaigning is picking up pace just as all the major parties and their groupings have decided on the constituencies to contest and the candidates.

As expected the leading parties like the CPM, Congress and BJP faced delays, protests and deadlocks as they negotiated with their allies. Their troubles mounted as small parties bargained hard for a few more seats and the constituency of their choice.

As if the troubles by allies were not enough, factions within parties like Congress and the BJP posed difficulties, thereby delaying the announcement of candidates and the constituencies shared with the allies.

While major problems have been resolved, a few more irritants still bother a few parties even as the date for filing the nominations approaches.

Here are the some problems faced by the political fronts in various districts of Kerala as they were finalising candidates and allocating constituencies to constituent parties:

Thiruvananthapuram

The major political fronts - the LDF, the UDF and the NDA - are fully in the campaign mode after they ironed out a few issues over candidate selection.

Congress cleared the name of Veena S Nair as Vattiyoorkavu candidate only on Tuesday.

Overcoming the hurdles in the BJP state unit, Sobha Surendran became the party candidate in Kazhakoottam after the central leadership intervened.

Kollam

With P C Vishnunath joining the poll fray in Kundara, a pending issue in the Congress here has been settled.

The local-level protests over giving the Chadayamangalam seat to CPI state executive committee member J Chinju Rani have also subsided. Even the leaders, who had protested, took part in the block convention in which CPI state secretary Kanam Rajendran also participated.

The problem in the local leadership of the BJP over giving the Kundara seat to ally the Bharath Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS) is persisting. With candidates declared for Kollam and Karunagappally on Wednesday, the candidate list of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has been completed.

Alappuzha

RSS leader R Balashankar's allegation over a CPM-BJP deal at Chengannur is still resonating. But Chengannur CPI candidate and sitting MLA Saji Cherian, and NDA candidate M V Gopakumar, who is the BJP district president, rejected the allegations.

Pathanamthitta

The protests within the CPM over giving away the Ranni seat to the Kerala Congress (M) are yet to subside. Protest is also brewing in the Kerala Congress against the candidate. Some of the senior leaders and a section of the supporters are keeping away from the poll campaigning.

Protests were also raised against the candidature of BJP district president Ashokan Kulanada at Thiruvalla.

Kottayam

The United Democratic Front (UDF) finds itself in a spot as Lathika Subhash stands firm on her decision to contest independently in Ettumanoor after quitting the Congress.

No decision has been taken yet on replacing the NDA candidates for Ettumanoor and Poonjar. The BJP and ally BDJS are sparring over a the candidate choices and constituency allottments.

BJP activists have alleged that Minerva Mohan, its candidate for the Kottayam seat is not familiar with the constituency.

Idukki

There was a dispute between the BJP and BDJS over the Udumbanchola constituency. But the problem has been resolved after the BJP candidate was withdrawn.

Ernakulam

The protests in the Muslim League over giving the seat to V E Abdul Gafoor, son of former minister V K Ebrahim Kunju, have been quelled. But those who had raised objections did not turn up for poll campaigning.

Thrissur

Congress leaders are trying to settle the protests over candidate selection at Puthukkad and Manalur constituencies.

The problems within the CPI over Nattika seat have cooled down to some extent.

Palakkad

The state leadership pacified former MLA and former DCC president A V Gopinathan, who had raised a banner of protest against the Congress district leadership. The problems were resolved after former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy turned up at Gopinathan's house and held talks. With this, Gopinathan has become actively involved in the party activities.

Malappuram

Aryadan Shoukath was side-lined as DCC president V V Prakash was given the seat in Nilambur. The Congress resolved the issue by promising the DCC president post to Aryadan Shoukath. After it was decided that Firoz Kunnamparambil would contest from the Thavanur constituency on the Congress symbol, the Youth Congress protest has also subsided.

The issues in the Muslim League in Tirurangadi have also ended. Those who had raised objections are now out campaigning for K P A Majeed.

Kozhikode

Protesting over the move to give the Elathur seat to NCK, recently founded by Mani C Kappan, the Congress local leadership declared the KPCC executive committee member U V Dinesh Mani as the candidate. Dinesh Mani will file his nomination papers on Thursday.

Though a section of the Congress leaders had objected to the move to back the Revolutionary Marxist Party in Vadakara, the problem was resolved after K K Rema became the candidate.

Huge protests had erupted in the CPM over allotting the Kuttiadi seat to the Kerala Congress (Mani). The protests ended as the party took over the seat from the LDF ally.

The protests in the League over Koduvally and objections in the Congress over Balussery too have been quelled. Also, the confusion over the UDF candidate in Perambra has also ended. Expatriate businessman C H Ibrahim Kutty will contest as an Independent with League support.

Wayanad

Posters have surfaced in Kalpetta against the UDF candidate T Siddique of the Congress. The Congress leadership is trying to put out the fire.

Posters had also surfaced in Sulthan Bathery against the NDA candidate C K Janu the other day. After the Mananthavady candidate withdrew from the poll fray, the NDA declared another person as the candidate on Wednesday.

Kannur

The factional dispute in Congress over the Irikkur seat continues. Candidate Sajeev Joseph has started poll campaigning. The problem is expected to be resolved with veteran leader Oommen Chandy’s arrival on March 19.

The UDF is yet to take a decision on backing the mother of Walayar girls, who is contesting against Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at Dharmadom in Kannur.

Kasaragod

Protesting against the candidature of Minister E Chandrasekharan of the CPI in Kanhangad constituency, the party's state council member Bangalam P Kunhikrishnan resigned from the post of the LDF block convener. Though he is involved in campaigning, he has not withdrawn his resignation.

The problems over UDF candidate finalisation in Uduma have ended.

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