Alappuzha Lok Sabha elections 2024: The Alappuzha Lok Sabha constituency is close to the CPI (M) in more than one ways, as it’s the only seat of the 20 in Kerala that the Left won in the 2019 polls.
After their sitting member, AM Ariff was asked to retain his seat and hit the campaign trail, came the news that AICC General Secretary, KC Venugopal, will return to Alappuzha to fight for the Lok Sabha seat which he won in 2009 and 2014, besides winning the Alappuzha Assembly constituency thrice, starting in 1996.
The BJP has also brought in its veteran firebrand leader Sobha Surendran, making it a triangular poll battle.
Alappuzha is also considered the second-biggest bastion of the CPI(M) after Kannur and the constituency has a sizeable number of the working class as the district is known for paddy cultivation and also the coir industry.
Besides the CPI(M)-led Left has won five of the seven Assembly segments.
Congress candidate KC Venugopal
Though senior leader Venugopal is no stranger to the constituency, it was veteran Congress legislator, Ramesh Chennithala, who insisted that Venugopal should contest from Alappuzha and promised to oversee the entire election campaign as the AICC General Secretary might have to spend time away from the constituency on account of the post he holds.
Hence, senior leader Chennithala is overseeing the campaign and has entrusted the daily campaign programme to two veterans, KC Joseph of the Congress and CP John, who leads the CMP, an ally of the Congress in the United Democratic Front (UDF).
What happened in 2019 polls? Here are results
In the Lok Sabha 2019 polls, AM Ariff won by defeating Congress leader Shanimol Usman by a margin of just 10,474 votes, which turned out to be the lowest victory margin in the state in those elections.
With Venugopal in the fray, top national Congress leaders are expected to arrive for campaigning, and it would be the same for the BJP too, turning Alappuzha into a high-profile constituency. Venugopal, a sitting Rajya Sabha member with two more years to go, decided to contest the Alappuzha seat, which he won in 2009 and 2014.
KC Venugopal files nomination
Congress leader KC Venugopal filed his nomination on April 4 from Alappuzha constituency in Kerala for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections to be held in seven phases across the country beginning April 19.
Triangular contest in Alappuzha
The Alappuzha parliamentary seat is set to witness a 'three-cornered fight' with candidates of the BJP, Congress and Communist Party of India (Marxist) in the fray for the upcoming polls. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) won one seat in Alappuzha in the 2019 elections.
This time, the Congress general secretary is pitted against BJP's Sobha Surendran and CPI (Marxist) AM Ariff who is the incumbent MP from the constituency.
Sobha Surendran filed her nomination on April 3.
Alappuzha seat political history
Venugopal had won the constituency in 2014 and the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. In 2004, the Communist Party of India candidate KS Manoj had won the seat. Congress's VM Sudheeran had won three consecutive elections- 1996, 1998 and 1999. In the year 1991 CPI's T J Anjalose won the seat. In the 1984 and in 1989 Congress candidate Vakkom Purushothaman had won.
This parliamentary constituency consists of seven Assembly segments- Aroor, Cherthala, Alappuzha, Ambalappuzha, Haripad, Kayamkulam, and Karunagappalli. The CPI and the Congress, partners in the opposition I.N.D.I.A bloc are however, fierce contenders in Kerala, with both parties pitting their strongest candidates against each other. Kerala, one of the few states where the Congress still has a strong presence, sends 20 parliamentarians to the Lok Sabha.
The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) won 19 out of 20 seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. While the Congress won 15 seats, its allies Indian Union Muslim League won two seats, the Revolutionary Socialist Party won one and the Kerala Congress (M) won one seat. Voting for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in the South Indian state across all 20 seats is scheduled for April 26, while the counting of votes will take place on June 4.
