Congress' Shafi Parambil.
Credit: X/shafi_parambil_
Apart from Thrissur which saw BJP open it account in Kerala, much attention was on the Vadakara Lok Sabha constituency in Kerala which saw a straight fight between two incumbent MLAs -- Congress' Shafi Parambil and CPI(M)'s K K Shailaja Teacher. At the time of writing, Parambil is comfortable in the lead with a margin of over one lakh votes.
Young Turk Shafi, who represents Palakkad Assembly constitency, is poised to beat former Health Minister Shailaja, the sitting MLA from Mattanur, who had won with a record margin in the 2021 Assembly elections.
When CPI (M) fielded 'Shailaja Teacher', as she is known among her peers to wrest seat back from Congress, the grand old party sprung a last-minute suprise by moving the incumbent MP K Muraleedharan to Thrissur and bringing in the young and dynamic Shafi into the contest.
The voters on one side had the charismatic Shailaja Teacher, whose role in fighting the Covid pandemic during her tenure as the state health minister had won even international accolades. Pitted against Shailaja was Shafi, who had a clean and unblemished record as a legislator. The grapevine was abuzz that Congress specifically brought in a Muslim candidate to cash in on a sizeable part of the community, who form a large part of the Vadakara voters.
With two sitting MLAs being fielded, it was a known fact that a by-election would be required and with Shafi poised to clinch the LS seat, the Palakkad Assembly constituency is most likely to fall vacant.
It is worth remembering that in the 2021 Assembly election, BJP had finished second with bureaucrat E Sreedharan, also known as the "Metro Man", for literally changing the face of Indian transport, almost pulling it off for the saffron camp.
Now the Palakkad by-election (whenever it is held) is likely to give BJP a glimmer of hope to get a foothold into the state Assembly, considering its Lok Sabha election performance in the southern state.
BJP currently does not have any representation in the Kerala assembly.
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