Will Vadakara witness consolidation of anti-CPI(M) votes again?

A consolidation of votes against the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] and a steady erosion of the socialist bloc’s political clout are among the features of the recent electoral history in the Vadakara Assembly constituency. The upcoming polls will again put to the test if the United Democratic Front (UDF) can continue to be a beneficiary of the political scenario resulting from this.

The anti-CPI(M) sentiment was initially fuelled by the political developments within the party that eventually led to the birth of the Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP) led by T.P. Chandrasekharan at Onchiyam in 2008. The alleged involvement of CPI(M) activists in his murder four years later worsened the situation. Though C.K. Nanu, as a nominee of the Janata Dal (Secular), managed to win the 2016 Assembly election, K.K. Rema, the widow of Chandrasekharan, polled over 20,000 votes on her own and came third. The final nail in the coffin was the formalisation of the tie-up between the RMP and the UDF, in the form of a ‘Janakeeya Munnani’, in subsequent elections. A major contributor to the electoral success was the solid support of the Indian Union Muslim League, which has pockets of influence spread across the constituency.

Socialist stronghold

Vadakara had been a socialist stronghold in the past, with the party ruling local bodies in the region and senior leaders such as the late K. Chandrasekharan and Mr. Nanu winning consecutive elections from here. Between 1960 and 2021, the constituency had only socialist party MLAs. However, successive splits and political alignments and realignments of the Janata Dal offshoots have weakened their electoral strength now. In the 2021 election, Manayath Chandran of the Lok Tantrik Janata Dal was defeated by Ms. Rema by a margin of 7,491 votes.

In the upcoming election, the incumbent MLA is pitted against M.K. Bhaskaran, district president of the Rashtriya Janata Dal, who is the Left Democratic Front (LDF) candidate, and K. Dileep of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

Electoral scene

Vadakara Municipality and the Azhiyur, Eramala, Chorod, and Onchiyam grama panchayats are part of the Vadakara Assembly segment. In the 2025 local body polls, the UDF-RMP alliance was able to retain power in Eramala and Onchiyam. The RMP also elected its first representative to the Kozhikode district panchayat from the Azhiyur division. The party has a councillor now in the Vadakara municipality as well. Its members in the Vadakara block panchayat went up from two to three. However, the LDF continued its reign in Vadakara municipality and Chorod and wrested Azhiyur from its rivals.

The UDF-RMP coalition is seeking votes based on the performance of its incumbent MLA and to “end the misrule of the Pinarayi Vijayan-led government”. Its leaders believe that Ms. Rema will be able to repeat and improve her electoral performance this time. The LDF chose to field Mr. Bhaskaran, who had earlier been the president of the Eramala grama panchayat multiple times and a member of the Vadakara block panchayat, to check the erosion of the socialist votes. The NDA, meanwhile, is hopeful of increasing its tally.