By P. Sreekumaran
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Dharmadam Assembly constituency, represented by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, is an impenetrable citadel of the Communist Party of India(Marxist)(CPI(M) in North Malabar. Known as the “Red Fortress”, Dharmadam has been represented by the ‘Captain’ – as Pinarayi is affectionately known – since 2016.
The Chief Minister is seeking a third consecutive term from the constituency, from where he scored massive wins in 2016 and 2021. In 2016, Pinarayi emerged the winner with a majority of 36, 905 votes. The outcome, again, is a foregone conclusion. The only point of interest is whether his majority will exceed that of 2021 when he romped home the winner by a majority of over 50,123 votes. Even in the local bodies election last year, when the LDF suffered a setback, Dharmadam recorded a majority of over 25,000 votes.
The constituency includes eight panchayats: Pinarayi, Peralassery, Kadambur, Anjarakandi, Chembilod, Vengad, Muzhuppilangode and Dharmadam. All the panchayats are under the CPI(M) control.
The Chief Minister’s main rival this time is V.P. Abdul Rashid of the Congress, who actually wanted to contest from Taliparamba, where P. K. Shyamala, wife of CPI(M) state secretary M. V. Govindan, is the party candidate. But he was persuaded to contest from Dharmadam. A reluctant candidate, Rashid is a member of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee(KPCC) and Youth Congress state general secretary. Rashid, a local leader, is campaigning hard in an attempt to reduce the majority of the Chief Minister.
The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate is K. Renjith, who is the BJP state general secretary.
Since he was busy campaigning in other constituencies, Pinarayi is concentrating on Dharmadam only in the last lap of the campaign, addressing, every day, on an average, 12 meetings. The CM’s campaign is being conducted with clockwork-like efficiency by a dedicated band of leaders and party cadres. The CM also gave a few interviews while he was in the constituency.
Pinarayi is seeking a third term on the strength of his Government’s stellar performance during the last ten years – a decade which witnessed unprecedented development. The State shed the diffidence of the period prior to 2016 and marched on with alacrity under the LDF rule. The Chief Minister’s biggest achievement has been to change the perception that nothing works in Kerala and to transform the State into the most happening State in the country. The long-held perception that Kerala is unfriendly to industrial growth has been buried fathoms deep. Industry has now acquired a new trajectory, driven by the growth of MSMEs and modern industries, the expansion of industrial infrastructure thanks to the funds generated by the innovative Kerala Infrastructure Investment Board Fund (KIIFB), higher levels of value addition and a remarkable turnaround of public sector undertakings besides modernisation of traditional sectors.
Its gains in the human development indices is the envy of even developing countries. The state made impressive strides in every field during the last 10 years. Apart from Infrastructure development, the education and health sectors too saw marked improvement with major investments in school infrastructure. Kerala shot into international prominence on the basis of its strong public health performance.
As against the trend of undermining workers rights the world over, Kerala, under the LDF Government, has made a conscious effort to strengthen labour laws in favour of workers, including migrant workers.
Kerala also has the distinction of being the only state which sustained the formal planning process. From 2017 onwards, capital expenditure recorded a significant increase, contrary to the declining trend observed in 18 major states after the dissolution of the Planning Commission.
Over the years, the LDF Government led by Pinarayi Vijayan, has made strenuous efforts to create and present not only to India but also to the world a democratic, socially inclusive and sustainable alternative development policy. The endeavour must continue if Kerala is to maintain the momentum of growth, ignoring the miasma of information unleashed by the opponents of the State’s development. That will be possible only if the Pinarayi-led LDF Government wins a third term in office. (IPA Service)
