Kannur: Why is one Congress family contesting from five divisions in the Anthoor municipality? The answer lies in the 14 unopposed victories the Democratic Front, led by the CPM, won across Kannur district.

Once the deadline for withdrawing nomination papers for the 2025 local body elections closed on November 24, CPM candidates in 14 seats across three local bodies were declared elected because they had no rival candidates. Five CPM candidates sailed through unopposed in Anthoor municipality; three in Malappattam grama panchayat; and six in Kannapuram grama panchayat.

The Congress-led UDF alleges that CPM workers went door to door, threatening those who proposed its candidates in these panchayats. Prajosh Poyyil, the Congress's Anthoor mandalam president, had only one way to counter these threats. 

“We have voters, but no one was willing to step forward. So my family volunteered,” said Poyyil.

Prajosh Poyyil is contesting from Ozhakrome (division 25); his brother Praveen Kumar from Kanool (3); Praveen’s wife Siji K V from Veniyil (27); their mother P Indira from Peeleri (7); and Indira’s sister P Sujatha from Paliyathvalappu (28).

They live in Punnkulangara (division 22), which has about 150 Congress voters, hardly a shield against the CPM’s alleged threats, but the family chose to contest “out of commitment to the Congress ideology.” Since its formation, the Anthoor municipality has elected only LDF councillors. In 2015, the CPM won 14 of 28 wards unopposed. That fell to six in 2020, and now to four.

In Anthoor, CPM workers brought Congress candidate K Livya, fielded from Anchampeedika (division 26, reserved for SC women), before the returning officer on Monday.

She said she wanted to back off from the election. “Three CPM workers stood behind her like bodyguards. After she said she was withdrawing, they whisked her away. We haven’t been able to speak to her since,” said Prajosh Poyyil, the Congress's Anthoor mandalam president.

According to him, CPM workers had gone to her house on Saturday, November 22, and threatened her for contesting. They then produced her before the returning officer, who said withdrawals would be taken up only on Monday. “So they produced her again today,” he said.

Two more UDF nominations were rejected on Monday after the returning officer accepted claims that the proposers’ signatures were forged. The IUML’s Shamima, contesting from Kodallur (division 13), saw her paper rejected after Sreedharan (65), a retired Armyman who seconded her, appeared before the returning officer and claimed he never signed it.

Similarly, the nomination filed by Congress candidate Vimal Manoj K from Thaliyil (division 18) was struck down after his seconder, Pramod, a plywood-factory worker, said the signature was not his.

Soon after, the UDF released an audio clip purportedly of Manoj speaking to Pramod, in which Pramod says his family was being put under strain. “There are big issues at home. What if something happens? Should I suffer that too? I don’t want any happiness after putting my family through hardship,” he says. He was responding to Manoj’s reminder that he had promised to stand firm.

Then came the most surreal episode: CPM workers produced Raghunath Thaliyil, the state general secretary of Pravasi Congress, a frontal organisation of the Congress, claiming his signature was forged on the IUML candidate Ramsheena’s papers in Thalivayal (division 20).

Raghunath told the returning officer he had signed a blank sheet. When asked how an educated man could mistake a printed nomination form for a blank sheet, he had no answer.

The returning officer then asked whether the signature on the nomination was his; when he said yes, Ramsheena’s papers were accepted. “He was clearly under pressure. The CPM workers who brought him were his neighbours,” said Poyyil.

The CPM also contested the papers of UDF candidate T N Unnikrishnan in Kolmotta (division 10), producing Odayanan, the proposer, to deny his own signature. But Odayanan, a welfare pensioner, held his ground, and the nomination was upheld.

The UDF could not field candidates in three more divisions -- Morazha (division 2), CPM state secretary M V Govindan’s home turf; Podikkundu (19); and CH Nagar (24), assigned to the IUML. BJP, however, has put up a candidate in CH Nagar, ensuring the CPM won’t get a free ride there.

Poyyil said the Congress had a candidate for Morazha, but the seconder backed out at the last minute. “He said his house was only six years old and he didn’t want it to be destroyed for backing a Congress candidate,” he said.

Since proposers must be residents of the ward, they often bear the brunt of threats, unlike candidates, who can come from elsewhere in the local body.

With no contest, the returning officer declared the CPM’s K Rajitha (Morazha), K Premachandran (Podikkundu), K V Premarajan (Thaliyil), E Rajitha (Kodallur), and T V Dhanya (Anchampeedika) elected unopposed.

Kannapuram does an Anthoor

Kannapuram, a CPM fortress, also handed the party six uncontested victories -- four because the opposition couldn’t field candidates, and two because nomination papers were rejected.

The UDF had contested all 14 wards in 2015 and 2020, polling 2,690 votes or 22% in the previous local body election. This time, the papers in Ambalapuram (ward 1) and Chemmaravayal (ward 8) were rejected over alleged forged signatures.

The UDF and NDA failed to field candidates in Kannapuram Centre (ward 3), Thrikoth (10), Edakkeppuram South (13), and Edakkeppuram Centre (14). Notably, the UDF had polled 325 votes in three of these wards in 2020. Edakkeppuram Centre is a new ward.

Malappattam sees three walk

In Malappattam panchayat, the LDF secured three unopposed wins. No one filed papers against A V Othenan in Aduvapuram North (ward 5) or C K Shreya in Aduvapuram South (ward 6). In Kovunthala (ward 12), the UDF candidate’s papers were rejected after the proposer’s signature was said to be forged, paving the way for the LDF’s M V Shigina to be declared elected. In 2020, the panchayat had four uncontested wins. Except for Aduvapuram North, the other two wards had seen contests.

Walkover in Kasaragod

In Kasaragod, the CPM logged one uncontested win in Madikai panchayat. C V Shanthini was declared elected from Bangalam (ward 10) as there were no other candidates. In 2020, the panchayat saw four uncontested wins; both the president S Preetha and vice-president V Prakashan were elected without a vote.

In Mangalpady panchayat, IUML’s Sameena was declared elected from Mannimunda (ward 24). The ward had been won by Mahamood, an LDF-backed independent, in 2020; he has since joined the IUML. Sameena was the Manjeshwar block president from 2020 to 2025.

LDF candidate’s paper rejected

In Kannur's Peravoor panchayat, the nomination papers of P J Joseph, the LDF-backed independent in Thettuvazhy ward, and his stand-by candidate Reena, were rejected during scrutiny because the proposer belonged to a different ward.