LDF plays victim card as it pitches Kadannappalli for fifth term from Kannur

Kannur: At 81, Kadannappalli Ramachandran, the veteran socialist leader allied with the CPM, is preparing for what could be his fifth entry into the Kerala Assembly. For the Left Democratic Front (LDF), the low-profile Minister for Ports and Museums remains its best bet in the prestigious Kannur Assembly constituency, where the United Democratic Front (UDF) has a winnable base.

Kadannappalli, who has been representing the constituency since 2016, scraped through both the 2016 and 2021 elections with razor-thin margins -- 1,196 and 1,745 votes -- defeating the late Congress leader Satheesan Pacheni each time, his affable, accessible style, and a certain personal rizz, helping him hold ground.

This time, the LDF has begun mobilising in the constituency, playing the victim card. On Tuesday morning, the LDF, led by CPM district secretary K K Ragesh, marched to the corporation office, accusing the UDF-led Kannur Municipal Corporation of stonewalling Kadannappalli’s projects proposed through the MLA fund.

Town Square flashpoint
The immediate trigger for the protest was a stop memo issued by the corporation after work began to erect a large tent structure at the parking area of Town Square, intended to host public events.
“The stop memo was issued when work began on erecting a tent at Town Square,” said LDF district convenor K P Sudhakaran.

The constituency itself consists of only two local bodies: large parts of the Kannur Corporation (40 of its 56 wards) and Ragesh’s home panchayat of Munderi. While the UDF has long controlled the corporation, the LDF lost Munderi, too, to the UDF in the 2025 local body elections after a grassroots backlash over the party fielding a relative of Ragesh as its candidate for panchayat president.

LDF convenor Sudhakaran alleged that several MLA-funded projects have been delayed by the corporation. A Rs 1-crore proposal to set up daytime rest centres for senior citizens has not moved forward as the corporation has not allotted land, he said. Several road repair works sanctioned under MLA and budget funds are also pending because estimates have not been prepared, delaying administrative approval, he said.

Construction of a building for the District Homoeopathy Hospital using MLA funds has also stalled after the corporation issued a stop memo, he said. The LDF also alleged that even the work to complete the compound wall of the corporation office, currently functioning from Jubilee Hall, has not been permitted.

UDF counters
The UDF leadership dismissed the allegations, saying the MLA often initiates projects on corporation land without consulting the civic body. “The MLA has only two local bodies to deal with. He should sit with them and understand what the corporation requires before announcing projects on its land,” said T O Mohanan, Congress leader and former mayor.

“The corporation usually comes to know of these projects only when workers arrive and start digging up parking areas, or auto stands,” Mohanan said. “Instead of understanding the city’s priorities, he tries to implement what the CPM wants.” Mayor P Indira accused the LDF of using the corporation as a “shield” to hide both the minister’s inefficiency and the state government’s neglect of Kannur city.

Responding to criticism over the Town Square stop memo, Indira said the parking area had been dug up to erect a stage and tent without a permit.
Town Square, which comes under the administration of the District Collector and is managed through the District Tourism Promotion Council (DTPC), had already suffered damage due to repeated events. “Tiles are removed to erect large tents, damaging the amphitheatre, garden and children’s park,” she said.

On the homoeopathy hospital project, Mohanan said the corporation had given 30 cents of land free of cost. “We only have to verify whether the construction is being carried out following due process,” he said.

Development row widens
While the LDF is talking of a compound wall for the new corporation office, the UDF accuses the government of not handing over the building to the corporation. The corporation office building is being constructed at a cost of ₹37 crore.

“We have written several letters to the government. They are neither completing the building nor allowing the corporation to provide basic facilities from the block,” Indira said.

She said the corporation was being sidelined because it was controlled by the UDF. She claimed the Suchitwa Mission adjudged Kannur as the best municipal corporation in the state for sanitation and waste management. The award is usually presented on Local Self-Government Day. “But the government did not even announce the award, let alone hand it over to us,” said Indira.

Electoral undertones
The confrontation comes as political manoeuvring intensifies ahead of the next Assembly election. Mohanan said the LDF launched eight protests against the corporation ahead of the local body election in December. “This round is for the Assembly election,” he said.

The LDF has not yet officially announced Kadannappalli as its candidate. The Congress has not yet finalised its candidate in Kannur. Names doing the rounds include Mohanan and newly elected councillor Rijil Makkutty. Speculation also persists about the possible entry of veteran Congress leader K Sudhakaran, though his age and health remain factors.

Other than Sudhakaran, Kadannappalli may not sweat over any other candidate. His political career stretches back more than five decades. At 27, he defeated E K Nayanar from the Kasaragod Lok Sabha constituency in the 1971 Indian general election, and retained the seat in 1977. In 1980, he entered the Kerala Legislative Assembly for the first time from Irikkur. In those days, he was with the Congress, after cutting his political teeth in the Kerala Students' Union (KSU). He later emerged as the leader of Congress (Secular), a small socialist party aligned with the LDF.

Today, he is the only face of that party. He returned to the Assembly in 2006 from Edakkad and served as Devaswom minister in the V S Achuthanandan government before winning the Kannur seat in 2016 and 2021.

In the LDF camp, there is quiet confidence that Kadannappalli’s personal connect with voters could once again tilt the balance in a constituency, where both the local bodies are with the UDF.