By infusing young blood and challenging the conventional caste and community equations that were being tenaciously followed so far, the CPI(M) is experimenting a change in electoral politics in the State.
The proposal to field Thiruvananthapuram Mayor V.K. Prasanth in the Vattiyurkavu Assembly segment that is being deemed as a United Democratic Front (UDF) bastion in the capital and picking up two Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) State vice presidents K.U. Janeesh Kumar for Konni and Manu C. Pulickal for Aroor, the CPI(M) is heralding a refreshing change in electoral politics.
Equally significant is the decision to have Manu Roy, a practising lawyer, as Independent in Ernakulam. The secretariat meetings of the respective districts that were in session on Wednesday could pick up the choices mooted by the State leadership without much confusion. The Kasaragod district secretariat has identified C.H. Kunhambu who defeated the late Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) leader Cherkkalam Abdullah in 2006 to contest the bypoll. The party hopes to cash in on the popularity of Mr. Kunhambu in the constituency and its vicinity.
Whether the decision to break the caste and community equations attempted in the capital would be followed in other segments in the elections would be followed by the party and the LDF leadership would be quite interesting to watch. But the decision to give a youth flavour to the elections is expected to yield a positive outcome for the front.
The decision of the State secretariat to give a leeway to the district leadership and mandalam committees to air their opinions on candidate selection itself is expected to ensure better cooperation of the cadre in electioneering. Each candidate being their choice, now the onus is squarely on the respective district leadership to ensure that their performance is better than the previous election.
Only a formal clearance of the CPI(M) State and central leadership and the LDF are left in the case of candidates and that has given an early bird advantage for the front when compared to its rivals. The front would have to sustain the tempo till the last leg of campaigning.
