With candidates of major political fronts hitting the ground, the electioneering for Lok Sabha elections is gaining momentum in the Alappuzha constituency.
The candidacy of All India Congress Committee general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal in Alappuzha has given a new vigour to the contest and brought the constituency to the limelight. Mr. Venugopal who represented Alappuzha in the lower house twice from 2009 to 2019 did not contest the Lok Sabha polls last time. He later became a Rajya Sabha MP from Rajasthan and has more than two years to complete his term.
His candidature bespeaks that Congress-led United Democratic Front is eager to wrest the Alappuzha parliament seat from the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI (M)]-led Left Democratic Front. Alappuzha was the only constituency the LDF won in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in the State.
With the CPI (M) fielding incumbent A.M. Ariff, MP and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance roping in BJP State vice-president Shobha Surendran, the coastal constituency is set for a fiery battle.
In 2019, Mr. Ariff who secured 4,45,970 votes defeated Shanimol Usman of the Congress by a margin of 10,474 votes in Alappuzha. BJP candidate, K. S. Radhakrishnan, who finished third in the polls had bagged 1,87,729 votes.
Mr. Ariff and Ms. Surendran launched their respective poll campaigns several days ago. On Sunday, Mr. Venugopal began electioneering with a road show from Aroor to Kayamkulam. The LDF Alappuzha Lok Sabha constituency convention was held at Alappuzha Town Square in the evening. It was inaugurated by senior CPI (M) leader S. Ramachandran Pillai. Ms. Surendran visited Nair Service Society general secretary G. Sukumaran Nair at Changanassery.
