Kannur witnessing tough fight

Kannur, Apr 29 (UNI) Kannur, which is going to the polls on May three in the third and final phase of Assembly elections in Kerala, is witnessing a tough fight between the ruling United Democratic Front (UDF) and the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF).

There are seven candidates, but the fight is between ex-Minister K Sudhakaran (Congress-UDF) and CPI(M)'s K P Sahadevan (LDF).

The CPI(M) is making all out efforts to wrest the seat from Mr Sudhakaran, who is fighting the election for the third time from the constituency. The BJP has fielded Bhagyaseelan Chalad.

Mr Sudhakaran who is now KPCC General Secretary, won in 1996 defeating Mr N Ramachandran (Ind) with a margin of 7,862 votes. In the 2001 Assembly poll, he defeated Kasim Irikkur, an independent backed by LDF, with a margin of 19,133 votes.

The UDF is pinning its hopes on the sizeable Muslim population in the constituency. The LDF hopes it could wrest the seat this time considering its performance in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, in which CPI(M) candidate A P Abdullah Kutty secured a margin of 43,150 votes from the Assembly segment over his nearest UDF rival.

The backbone of the UDF's electoral strength in Kannur is the mass base of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML). The LDF campaign managers however feel they can put up a challenge to the UDF in the context of support offered by some Muslim organisations to the LDF.

Campaign managers of Mr Sudhakaran are highlighting his chievements as an MLA over the last five years and also as a minister in the A K Antony Cabinet.

Campaign vehicles are passing through the length and breadth of the constituency bearing the achievements of Mr Sudhakaran during his tenure as MLA and Minister. He started his campaign much ahead of the LDF candidate.

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