People of Angamaly are known for their hospitality and naturally they are not averse to giving another chance to candidates who have won from the constituency once. Voters here have backed the Communists, Congressmen, Socialists and Kerala Congress over the years. It will be interesting to see which way the wind blows in Angamaly this time even as the election fever in the constituency is catching up by the day, less than a month before the Kerala Assembly Election.
Congress' sitting MLA Roji M John is the UDF candidate this time too. The LDF has announced former minister Jose Thettayil as its candidate. The NDA is planning to field a candidate from one of its constituent partners.
The constituency comprises the Angamaly Municipality and the village Panchayats of Ayyambuzha, Kalady, Karukutty, Malayatoor, Nileshwaram, Manjapra, Mukkanoor, Parakadavu, Thuravoor. The LDF rules only the Ayyampuzha and Manjapra panchayats.
General profile
The Angamaly constituency is mainly agrarian in profile even though Chambannur has an industrial park consisting of 100 industrial units and public sector undertaking Telc.
Kalady, the birthplace of Adi Shankaracharya, is a pominent town close to forests. The Christian pilgrimage centre is close by at Malayattoor and a university in Sri Sankaracharya's name is also here.
Kalady is also the centre of arecanut trade.
Developmental needs
The land for Gift City, which will be established as part of the Kochi-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor, has been earmarked in Ayyampuzha. The locals demand that instead of the land identified, a larger area on government land should be acquired. This issue is likely to be discussed widely during the election campaign.
A drinking water scheme is badly needed for Ayyampuzha Panchayat.
The MC Road begins from the centre of Angamaly Town after branching off the National Highway 66. A bypass road can go a long way in eliminating the traffic congestion at the junction.
A new flyover in Kalady, a flyover each in Perumbavoor and Angamaly are also required.
Electoral history
The Angamaly assembly constituency came into existence in 1967. From 1967 to 1980 trade union leader A P Kurian won four back-to-back elections from the constituency on behalf of the Communists. Nobody has broken his record yet. The opponents in these elections were A C George, Garvasis Arackkal, P P Thankachan and Janata party representative P J Joy.
However, Kurian lost when Kerala Congress candidate M V Mani came to contest from the constituency in 1982. In 1987, Mani repeated his victory by defeating M C Josephine.
However, P J Joy came back as a Congress candidate in 1991 and halted the victory run of M V Mani. He won a hat-trick of victories until the 2001 state polls. P J Pappu was Joy's opponent in the 2001 elections as Left-backed independent candidate. Joy won again.
It was in 2006 that Jose Thettayil entered the poll fray and defeated Joy. Even though Johnny Nellore came from Muvattupuzha to contest from here in 2011, it was Jose Thettayil who emerged victorious. In 2016 the battle was between Roji M John and Benny Moonjeli. Roji won the electoral battle.
The results of all the elections held here indicate that the voters of the constituency had given a second chance to the sitting MLAs: A P Kurien won 4 times, M V Mani and Jose Thettayil twice each and P J Joy thrice. The sitting MLAs left the arena only after losing the polls, but this time it is only the second bid by the incumbent legislator. In other words, the electoral history definitely favours Roji, but can Jose work out an upset?
