2 months ago
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A decennary agone Nemom, a semi-urban constituency located astatine the margins of Kerala’s capital, was catapulted into the nationalist spotlight. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which for decades was making unsuccessful attempts to summation a foothold successful Kerala, had won its archetypal ever Assembly spot successful the State from Nemom that year. Five years later, successful 2021, the constituency again hogged each the attraction arsenic the BJP mislaid its sole seat, with the Left Democratic Front (LDF) regaining it successful a adjacent fight.
Things are not truthful antithetic successful 2026, with yet different choky and unpredictable contention successful the offing. The LDF has announced incumbent MLA and General Education Minister V. Sivankutty arsenic its candidate, portion BJP State president Rajeev Chandrasekhar volition contention arsenic the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate. The Congress is yet to denote its candidate, adjacent arsenic respective names person already cropped up successful the database of probable candidates.
Mr. Sivankutty, who had defeated BJP’s O. Rajagopal successful 2011, mislaid to him successful 2016 contempt expanding his votes from 50,076 to 59,142 successful 5 years. The Congress, which had won the constituency with 60,884 votes successful 2006 had fixed the spot to United Democratic Front (UDF) state Janata Dal (United), whose campaigner V. Surendran Pillai could triumph lone 13,860 votes successful 2016, starring the Left to impeach the UDF of handing implicit the constituency successful a platter to the BJP.
Three-cornered fight
In 2021, the Congress countered this accusation by fielding K. Muraleedharan, starring to a three-cornered combat with Mr. Sivankutty and the BJP’s Kummanam Rajasekharan. Although the BJP ran a monolithic run calling Nemom the “Gujarat of Kerala,” the LDF won by 3,949 votes. Despite the setback, the BJP has drawn assurance from its show successful the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and the section assemblage elections of 2025.
The BJP has managed to triumph a bulk of the wards successful the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation which are portion of the Nemom constituency (LDF won the rest) successful 2025, and 45.8% votes successful the Nemom Assembly conception successful the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, successful which Mr. Chandrasekhar was the candidate. However, the BJP volition besides temper its hopes considering they had a bulk of 41.4% votes successful the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and inactive went connected to suffer the adjacent Assembly elections.
Before the delimitation of 2008, a sizeable portion of the Nemom constituency utilized to beryllium a portion of the Thiruvananthapuram East Assembly seat. In the archetypal elections from present successful 1957, the undivided Communist Party of India’s (CPI) A. Sadasivan won against Praja Socialist Party’s (PSP) P. Vishwambharan. The results were reversed successful the adjacent predetermination with Vishwambharan becoming an MLA from present successful 1960.
Cong. made its mark
In the archetypal 5 elections from the constituency, lone the Left oregon the socialist parties person won. The Congress archetypal made its people successful the elections of 1977 erstwhile S. Varadarajan Nair defeated Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] campaigner Pallichal Sadasivan. Varadarajan Nair, who contested arsenic a campaigner of the Congress (U) aft the divided successful the party, was defeated by Congress (I) campaigner E. Rameshan Nair successful 1980.
The constituency was won by the UDF and the LDF doubly each successful the 4 elections since 1996, until the BJP won successful 2016. Congress’s N. Sakthan managed to clasp the constituency for 1 much word aft winning successful 2001. The elections successful 2011, aft delimitation of the constituency, threw up favourable results for the LDF, but the gains were soon mislaid owing to BJP’s maturation and the weakening of the Congress successful immoderate of the areas.
With BJP yet again mounting precocious hopes for the constituency, the LDF warring hard to support its turf and the UDF yet to uncover its cards, an breathtaking contention is connected the cards successful Nemom.
