BJP fights to retain Nemom

If Nemom helped BJP enter Kerala, an electorally forbidden land for the saffron party till 2016, five years on, the BJP is fighting to retain its fort against rivals’ fierce attempts to breach it.Kummanam Rajasekharan, 69, a former BJP state president, is fighting to hold Nemom, captured for the party by O Rajagopal who has retired from electoral politics. And, in a dramatic decision, Congress fielded MP K Muralidharan, 63. CPM has once again nominated, V Sivankutty, 66, who lost to Rajagopal by 8,000-odd votes last time –– after having won the seat in 2011 by defeating Rajagopal.Located next to Thiruvananthapuram city, Nemom has been providing growing fields to the BJP in its urban localities and among sections of the Hindus. Even when Congress’ Shashi Tharoor won the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha seat for a third time in 2019 (defeating Kummanam), the BJP retained the lead in the Nemom assembly segment.The BJP’s growth in the area got a tactical boost when the Congress –– which had won the Nemom seat in 2001 and 2006 –– gave the seat to smaller allies SJ(D) and JDU in the 2011 and 2016 assembly polls. The absence of the Congress meant the BJP taking over the space as the main rival of the LDF in the last two polls. The UDF’s steep fall came to an embarrassing 13,800-odd votes at third position in 2016 against BJP’s 67,813 and LDF’s 59142.For Muralidharan and Kummanam, this is their second bout – after the Congress leader defeated BJP rival in Vattiyoorkav in 2016. If BJP has moved Kummanam to its best seat now, Muralidharan reinforced his giant killer image by defeating CPM strongman P Jayarajan in the Vadakara Lok Sabha seat. The Congress is hoping Muralidharan’s fight in BJP’s den will send a message across the state, especially to the minorities.“A vote for BJP will help development,” Kummanam told ET. “The Congress candidate here has a track-record of deserting his seats. And the CPM candidate has acquired notoriety for the vandalism.”If being the son of four-time CM, the late K Karunakaran adds to Muralidharan’s stature, the fact that his father once won from Nemom becomes an emotional reference point. But, Muralidharan gives an ideological angle to his fight. “Through Nemom, Narendra Modi’s BJP took root in Kerala to grow and I am here with the mission of cutting off that root”, Muralidharan told ET. For CPM’s Sivankutty, the challenge is to hold on to the Left base and not let the contest acquire a BJP vs Congress bout in public perception.

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