Communist Party of India (Marxist) legislator V Sivankutty, who is eyeing to retain the high-profile Nemom assembly constituency in the April 9 Kerala polls, faces a strong challenge from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state chief Rajeev Chandrasekhar and Congress candidate KS Sabarinadhan.
In an interview with HT, the state’s minister of general education and labour talks about his own contest as well as his party-led Left Democratic Front’s prospects in the forthcoming polls.
Nemom is a keenly watched and high-profile constituency. Do you feel any pressure?
Not at all. After Nemom was formed post delimitation, there have been three elections in which I, as the CPI(M) candidate, won twice and lost once. It was when I lost in 2016 that I received the most votes ever — 89,000. Even when I won in 2021, I got fewer votes. Congress’s vote share went up last time only because K Muraleedharan contested. The voting pattern is different; the LDF might get only about 30,000 votes in the Lok Sabha polls, but it goes up in assembly elections. Nemom is not a stronghold of any party. The LDF has a good chance of victory here.
Is it a direct CPI(M)-BJP contest, or a triangular fight involving the Congress?
Two of the past three elections were straight fights with the BJP, but when Muraleedharan contested, it was a triangular fight. This time, the Congress candidate has just landed. It will take a week to assess.
Do you feel Sabarinadhan is not as strong a candidate as Muraleedharan?
That would be akin to insulting a rival, and I don’t want to do that.
The BJP claims you, as a sitting MLA and minister, have done nothing for the constituency. We have carried out ₹1,000-crore worth of development projects here. Out of the 23 schools, 19 have new buildings. We have upgraded the Nemom taluk hospital, built a new walkway along the Karamana river, inaugurated a new building for the Kerala Academy for Skills Excellence (KASE) in Karamana, and sanctioned a new Industrial Training Institute (ITI), while work on eight new bridges is ongoing...
The BJP candidate here is a crorepati (multi-millionaire). Can he tolerate the smell of the sweat of the poor? Will he wait to hear their problems? His language is already problematic. This is not an apt job for him. He has already committed fraud by not disclosing all his assets in his election affidavit. The property tax records are publicly available. His house is worth ₹200 crore. Unlike him, our assets belong to the people.
Will you be moving legally against the BJP candidate?
Yes, we have spoken to our lawyers in the Kerala high court, and we will file a case soon. We will file a petition before the Election Commission. His affidavit may be accepted by the returning officer, but the court will examine it in detail and produce the correct verdict.
The Congress-led UDF claims that after 10 years, there is massive anger against the LDF government. Your thoughts
There is no chance of a UDF win. In the last 10 years, UDF leaders have not been able to pinpoint a particular sector where there has been no progress. In the assembly, the UDF failed to bring forth even a single no-confidence motion. In the last 10 years, they have not been able to accuse any minister of corruption...
