UDF confident, LDF determined, NDA hopeful in intensifying poll arena of Wayanad

Kalpetta: Though Wayanad is often labelled a UDF bastion, the district has shown a surprising willingness to look beyond that label and consider the LDF as well, at least in some elections. 

There was even a phase when all three legislators representing the assembly constituencies of Wayanad were from the LDF. And last time, it was only sheer luck that came to the rescue of the UDF, helping it take charge of the Wayanad District Panchayat through a draw of lots.

The UDF, however, appears confident that it will be able to replicate the stellar performance it delivered in the previous Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in the district this time too. But while the arithmetic, the history and the geographical factors seem to favour the UDF, the LDF nevertheless remains certain that the chemistry of elections will ultimately tilt the scales in its favour.

Of the total 629 seats in the district, as many as 489 seats fall under the reservation category. At the same time, the major coalitions also harbour simmering resentment that social equations have been sabotaged in many places.

Of the 23 panchayats in the district, as many as 16 are with the UDF, and the Congress-led coalition also rules two of the three municipalities. As far as 4 block panchayats are concerned, the LDF and the UDF are standing neck to neck with 2 each.

The LDF this time claims that it will not only improve its standing in the District Panchayat but will also capture power in this upper-level administrative body. The UDF, however, has no doubts whatsoever that it will retain the District Panchayat with an even higher majority. The UDF leaders also claim that the coalition is all set to wrest power in the Bathery Municipality, which it lost last time, and that it will also showcase its strength by capturing the gram panchayats and block panchayats that slipped from its grasp.

The NDA, meanwhile, is counting on improving its performance in Poothadi and Pulpally panchayats and in the Bathery Municipality.

The key challenge for the UDF in achieving its stated target is the growing group-level disputes and the rebel menace it faces in its strongholds. For instance, Binu Jacob, former vice president of the Kaniyambetta Panchayat, is contesting as a UDF rebel against the incumbent District Panchayat president, Shamsad Marakkar, in the Poothadi division of the Panamaram Block Panchayat.

Similarly, in Thirunelli panchayat, long regarded as a pocket borough of the Left, the CPM has fielded a candidate against the CPI nominee, who is the official LDF candidate. The NDA, meanwhile, has been unable to even field candidates in 37 seats across the district, including in two block panchayat divisions.

Though the Mundakkai-Chooralmala landslides affected only three wards in the Meppadi Panchayat, one of the major election-related debates currently taking place in Wayanad is the disaster rehabilitation activities. The most potent campaign line against the LDF has become the alleged lapses in disaster rehabilitation and the crisis that engulfed the Brahmagiri Cooperative Society.

At the same time, the controversy over the cooperative bank recruitment scam and the wayward progress of the housing project announced by the Congress for the landslide victims has pushed the Congress into an uncomfortable corner as well.