Chennai: Congress general secretary K.C. Venugopal has won Kerala’s Alappuzha constituency against Left Democratic Front’s sitting MP A.M. Ariff by a margin of 63,513 votes. Venugopal has secured 4,04,560 votes against Ariff’s 3,41,047 votes. Bharatiya Janata Party’s Sobha Surendran has secured 2,99,648 votes.
Venugopal, who has represented the Alappuzha constituency in the Kerala Legislative Assembly and Lok Sabha, is now serving as a Rajya Sabha MP from Rajasthan. His return to the political fray in Alappuzha caused much discontent between the Congress and the ruling LDF, the traditional rivals in Kerala, both part of the INDIA bloc.
Alappuzha is the only Lok Sabha constituency in the state the LDF won in 2019, and the LDF was irked when the Congress chose a national leader to contest the seat against its INDIA ally. LDF leaders, including Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, have said that the Congress, through Venugopal’s candidature, is competing against its ally in Alappuzha instead of opposing the BJP.
The LDF has been highlighting the performance of Ariff as an MP and his popularity in the constituency. The party leadership has claimed that Ariff is the only Kerala MP who spoke up against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) in the Parliament.
According to PRS Legislative Research, Ariff has 89 percent attendance in the Parliament against a national average of 79 percent. He has attended 113 debates, asked 244 questions, and introduced a private member’s bill.
For the Congress, Venugopal’s candidacy turned into a celebration of his homecoming. The local Congress leadership, in its campaign, has projected Venugopal as a national leader and harped on his close relationship with the Gandhi family.
Countering the LDF, the Congress leadership has said that Venugopal will play an instrumental role in safeguarding the democratic and secular values in the Parliament. According to the party, all developmental projects in the area, including the Alappuzha bypass, apart from the district emerging as a tourism hub, happened due to Congress’s initiative.
An LDF stronghold, five of seven assembly segments in the LS constituency — Aroor, Cherthala, Alappuzha, Ambalappuzha, and Kayamkulam — have Left MLAs. Meanwhile, the United Democratic Front represents two assembly segments — Haripad and Karunagappally.
In 2019, Ariff won 4,45,981 votes, Congress candidate Shanimol Usman won 4,35,496, and the BJP secured 1,87,729 votes.