In Kozhikode, Congress planning to break two-decade-old jinx in Assembly polls

The Indian National Congress has a historical link with Calicut as the pre-Independence Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) and some of its tallest leaders were based in the city, which was part of then British Malabar. The Congress party today, however, has not had an MLA from Kozhikode district after 2006.

The last time the Congress had its MLAs from here was in 2001. P. Sankaran (Koyilandy) and A. Sujanapal (Kozhikode 1) represented the party in the Assembly. They also became Ministers in the Cabinets of A.K. Antony and Oommen Chandy, respectively. Since the 2006 Assembly polls, however, none of the party candidates won from the district.

Emboldened by its success in the recent local body polls, the Congress is planning to change this scenario in the upcoming Assembly elections by winning at least two seats from here.

In the 2021 polls, Congress candidates had contested from Balussery, Beypore, Kozhikode North, Nadapuram, and Koyilandy. One of its district leaders, Dinesh Perumanna, also contested as a candidate supported by the Indian Union Muslim League from Kunnamangalam as well. The IUML had put up candidates in Koduvally, Kozhikode South, Kuttiyadi, and Thiruvambady. The Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP)’s K.K. Rema was fielded from Vadakara and UDF-backed Independents contested from Perambra and Elathur. However, only K.K. Rema of the RMP (Vadakara) and M.K. Muneer of the IUML (Koduvally) emerged victorious.

This time also, the Congress is likely to contest in at least five seats. According to sources, discussions are on about fielding a party candidate from Elathur this time. P.V. Anvar, Trinamool Congress leader, is likely to get a United Democratic Front ticket from Beypore, from where Public Works Minister P.A. Mohamed Riyas is all set to seek a second term. The sources said that the party is hopeful of winning Koyilandy and Nadapuram seats and make an impact in some other seats.

District Congress Committee president K. Praveenkumar, KPCC general secretaries K. Jayanth and Vidya Balakrishnan, Youth Congress leader K.M. Abhijith and Kerala Students Union leader V.T. Sooraj are some of the possible candidates being considered by the party.