Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was leading by 2,900 votes in Kannur’s Dharmadam constituency, having got close to 49,000 votes after nine rounds of counting by 1 pm Monday. His nearest rival V.P. Abdul Rasheed from the opposition UDF secured 46,000 votes, and BJP candidate K. Ranjith stood third with 9,600 votes. Rasheed was in the lead in earlier rounds of counting while the Congress-led UDF surged ahead overall in Kerala.
Vijayan has represented the seat since the 2016 assembly elections, with his victory margin rising from 36,905 to 50,123 in his second term.
His hometown of Pinarayi is part of the constituency, and was before delimitation part of Kuthuparamba seat, which Vijayan represented in 1970, 1977, and 1991.
The assembly election this year is significant for both Vijayan and his party CPI(M) because as of now, Kerala is the only state in India governed by the CPI(M)-led LDF.
The front had won in 2016 and 2021 too, securing an even bigger mandate the second time. By noon Monday, the CPI(M) was leading in just 25 seats and the Congress on 63.
The party had announced candidates hours after the Election Commission issued the poll notification and has mostly centered its campaign around Vijayan and his administration, including welfare measures such as increasing pension for the elderly, and infrastructure projects such as inauguration of the Wayanad township, NH-66, etc.
Located 20 km away from Kannur, Pinarayi, while now widely known for Vijayan, has a significant role in the state’s communist history as it also includes Parappuram, where the Communist Party in Kerala was formed in 1939.
The region is also linked to A.K. Gopalan, India’s first Leader of the Opposition, who hailed from nearby Peralassery, which falls within the constituency.
Known as ‘Vijayettan’ or elder brother by party workers here, Vijayan entered politics through student activism, rising via organisations that later became the Students’ Federation of India and Democratic Youth Federation of India.
He became Kerala’s youngest legislator at 25 in 1970 after winning the Kannur Kuthuparamba constituency, which he represented till 1980 and then from 1991 to 1996.
He won from Payyannur in 1996 and became the Minister of Electricity and Cooperatives in the then E. K. Nayanar-led cabinet.
Vijayan saw his influence deepening in the party in parallel. He was elected as the CPI(M) Kannur district secretary in 1986, when senior leader M. V. Raghavan left the party. Vijayan then became the party’s state secretary in 1998 after the demise of Chadayan Govindan.
His tenure as CPI(M) state secretary was marked by many changes that distinguished the Kerala unit of the party. These included strengthening the party’s media network and managing a network of economic institutions through cooperatives.
Under this leadership, the party won 43 seats, a historic high, in the 2004 general elections and 176 seats in the 2006 Kerala election.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
Also Read: ‘Vijayettan’ at home, strongman outside: Kerala CM Pinarayi eyes 3rd straight win in Dharmadom