Kerala Assembly Election 2021, Wadakkanchery profile: Congress' Anil Akkara had won seat by 43 votes in 2016

Wadakkanchery Assembly Election 2021 | The Wadakkanchery Assembly constituency is a Congress stronghold where the CPM has won only twice since 1977.

Among the prominent leaders who represented the constituency are Congress’ KS Narayanan Namboodiri (MLA from 1977 to 1996) and present local self-government minister AC Moideen (from 2004 to 2011).

The Assembly constituency was in the spotlight during the 2016 election after the LDF decided to field actress KPAC Lalitha. Many in the CPM strongly protested her candidature, following which the actress opted out of the race citing health reasons.

The election eventually witnessed a neck and neck contest between Congress and CPM. Congress first-timer Anil Akkara, a former Adat panchayat president, emerged as the winner by just 43 votes.

The CPM has fielded Xaviour Chittilappilly from the seat for the 2021 polls, while Congress and other parties are yet to announce their candidates from the seat.

Past election results and winners

In the keenly-watched 2016 Assembly election, Akkara polled 65,535 against CPM’s Mary Thomas who got 65,492 votes.

Total electors, voter turnout, population

Electors: Wadakkanchery has an electorate of 2,08,376, comprising 99,901 males, 1,08,473 females and two third-genders. The constituency has 173 polling stations.

Voter turnout: In the 2016 election, Wadakkanchery had a voter turnout of 80.47 percent. Of the 1,58,705 electors who exercised their franchise, 75,787 were males and 82,918 were females.

Population: The Wadakkanchery Assembly constituency is made of Adat, Avanur, Kaiparamba, Kolazhy, Mulamkunnathukavu and Tholur panchayats in Thrissur taluk; and Mundathikode, Wadakkanchery and Thekkumkara panchayats in Thalappilly taluk.

As per Census 2011, of Kerala's 3.34 crore population, 54.73 percent are followers of Hinduism, followed by 26.56 percent followers of Islam and 18.38 percent Christians. Hinduism is the major religion in 13 of the state's 14 districts.
Malappuram is the only district in Kerala where Islam is the major religion with 70.24 percent of the district's total population following the religion.

The state has a tiny population that follows Jainism (0.01 percent), Sikhism (0.01 percent), Buddhism (0.01 percent) and 0.02 percent (other religions). Nearly 0.26 percent in the state didn't state their religion during the 2011 Census.

Election date and timing

The Kerala Assembly/Niyama Sabha polls will be held on 6 April, 2021, along with Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. The day will also see phase three polls in Assam and West Bengal.

The Kerala Legislative Assembly (Vidhan Sabha) has a total number of 140 seats, of which, 14 seats are reserved for the Scheduled Castes and two seats are reserved for the Scheduled Tribes.

The outgoing Assembly has eight female MLAs and rest 132 are male MLAs. The incumbent Kerala Niyamasabha will expire on 1 June, 2021.

Political alliances and Kerala

Elections in Kerala have traditionally been a contest between the UDF and the LDF with power swinging between the two groups.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the Congress-led UDF had won 19 out of the state’s 20 Lok Sabha seats banking on incumbency against the ruling LDF. However, repeating a similar feat in the Assembly polls is going to be an uphill task for the UDF.

The LDF has not only managed to overcome anti-incumbency in the 2020 local body polls but also managed to make inroads into UDF votebanks, particularly in Thrissur, Ernakulam, and Kottayam districts.

The NDA, which is emerging as a third front in Kerala, will be hoping to increase its tally in the Assembly polls. However, given that the BJP-led NDA didn't meet the expectations in the 2020 local body polls despite making gains, its ability to impact either the UDF's or LDF's prospects in the Assembly election remains unclear.

Of the seven Assembly segments that are part of the Kasaragod Parliamentary constituency, five are with the CPM-led LDF (four with CPM, and one with CPI) while IUML, a constituent of the Congress-led UDF, is the second-largest party, winning the remaining two seats (Kasaragod and Manjeshwaram) in the last Assembly polls.

BJP didn't win any of the seven Assembly segments that are part of the Kasaragod Parliamentary constituency in 2016.

March 11, 2021 at 10:19PM