SDPI enters Manjeshwar fray with UDF candidate’s namesake, signals disruptive intent

Kasaragod: The Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) has unsettled the United Democratic Front’s (UDF) prospects in Manjeshwar, not just by entering the fray but by fielding a namesake of its candidate and sitting MLA A K M Ashraf.

On Monday, the final day for nominations, SDPI district committee member Ashraf K M filed his papers, formally marking the party’s entry into a contest it had consciously stayed out of since its formation in 2009.

This could disrupt the UDF’s plans because the SDPI claims to have around 6,000 to 7,000 votes in the constituency where the UDF barely beat the BJP in the 2016 and 2021 Assembly elections by 89 votes and 745 votes.

The BJP is breathing down the UDF’s neck once again by fielding its biggest vote-catcher and former state president K Surendran, for the fourth time in Manjeshwar.

“We have to see how much of our votes we can actually gather,” said Abdul Salam, former district president of the party. The subtext is clear: the party’s support base may choose to defeat the BJP rather than prove their electoral strength in a high-stakes contest.

Salam did not hide his disdain for the UDF, particularly Leader of the Opposition V D Satheesan, while defending the decision to field a candidate in Manjeshwar. He pointed to Satheesan’s public criticism of the SDPI during the local body elections, and the Congress’s expulsion of a party leader in Thrissur for becoming panchayat president with SDPI support.

“We don’t want a situation where A K M Ashraf wins by 3,000-odd votes and is then forced to resign because those votes are seen as ours. We don’t want another election thrust on Manjeshwar,” he said, not hiding the sarcasm. “Let the verdict be clear.”

Founded in 2009, the SDPI stayed out of all four Assembly elections here: 2011, 2016, the 2019 by-election and 2021. Salam said it was not out of love for the UDF and the Muslim League, but to avoid splitting votes in a constituency where the BJP has steadily built ground.

However, the SDPI felt that the Muslim League used its organisational reach to squeeze it out of the political space.

The local body elections underline that frustration. Manjeshwar comprises eight panchayats: Enmakaje, Kumbla, Mangalpady, Manjeshwar, Meenja, Paivalike, Puthige and Vorkady. In 2020, the SDPI won a division in the Manjeshwar block panchayat and played a role in keeping the BJP out. By 2025, it had lost that foothold.

In Kumbla, its lone seat in 2020 helped the IUML retain control; this time, the IUML managed without it. In Vorkady, where it had a presence, the party drew a blank.
In 2020, it contested in eight grama panchayat wards and won in two; in 2025, it contested in 13 wards and drew a blank, but got 3,617 votes. On record, that is the hard number it brings into this election.

The SDPI attributes this stagnation to what it calls a tacit understanding between the IUML and the Left Democratic Front (LDF) at the grassroots level.

Yet, before deciding to contest, the party explored backing the LDF but on one condition that it field Shanavas Padhoor, a younger face with cross-sectional appeal, as an independent. A former Youth Congress leader, Padhoor, served as the LDF-backed vice-president of the Kasaragod District Panchayat from 2020 to 2025 as an independent member.

The CPM declined, wary of splitting minority votes, and fielded its district secretariat member K R Jayananda instead.

That decision has now pushed the SDPI into the fray. If its presence ends up hurting the UDF and indirectly aiding the BJP, the party could face difficult questions from within its own ranks.