Kerala Assembly Elections 2026: From water woes to farmers’ distress, local issues steer campaign narrative in Ernakulam

Even as high-pitched political rhetoric around controversies and allegations sets the tone of the campaign for the April 9 Assembly elections, several pressing local issues continue to shape voter sentiments in various constituencies in Ernakulam district.

The issues dominating public discourse on the ground include the acute drinking water crisis in the coastal constituency of Vypeen and the deepening distress among pineapple farmers in Muvattupuzha. The concern over industrial pollution in Kalamassery and Aluva assembly segments is also among the issues that have a place in election discourses.

Potable water crisis has become a major talking point in Vypeen with several coastal panchayats, mainly Njarackal and Edavanakad, reeling under acute shortage. Though two major projects, the Hudco-aided Water Augmentation Scheme and the Chowwara Water Supply Scheme, are in place to ensure supply, they have not been meeting the requirements of the island populations for long.

A.P. Lalu, a local Congress leader and ward member of Njarackal panchayat, said the water crisis has become a major election issue this time too. He blamed the CPI(M) MLAs who represented the constituency for the past 20 years in a row for not resolving the daily-life issues. The CPI(M) candidate M.B. Shiny said resolving the water scarcity would be her top priority once elected. UDF’s Tony Chammany and NDA’s Anitha Thomas have also promised a scientific and permanent solution to the water crisis in the event of getting elected.

Plummeting prices of pineapple, meanwhile, continue to be a key issue in Muvattupuzha constituency, which covers Vazhakulam, known as the Pineapple City. The price of the fruit has been staying around ₹20 per kg for a while, though farmers demand at least ₹30 per kilo. Climate change and alleged lack of institutional support have affected the sector badly, while the West Asia tension has added to the crisis in the sector, according to stakeholders. “Our demand for a Pineapple Board in the model of Spices and Coconut Development Boards has yielded little result yet,” Shine John, a pineapple farmer at Vazhakulam, said.

Environmentalists have meanwhile expressed dismay over the major fronts allegedly ignoring the issues of industrial pollution in the Edayar industrial stretch in Aluva and Kalamassery constituencies. Ensuring clean water in the Periyar is a necessity for any development activity and the very survival of the people in Ernakulam district. Unfortunately, it has not been featured in the manifestos of all three major fronts. Air pollution in the Edayar stretch and the frequent fire accidents in the industrial region have also not been addressed during the campaign, though voters discuss the issues among themselves,” Purushan Eloor, spokesperson of the Periyar Malineekarana Virudha Samiti, said.