Lok Sabha elections: Big names make Attingal a tough political turf

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Attingal and Travancore had a mother-child relationship. During the dynasty rule, only the sons of Attingal Ranis were entitled to claim the Travancore throne. But, Attingal lost its glory when Travancore king Anizham Thirunal Marthanda Varma stripped the mother queens of their sovereignty over the territory. Since then, politically, Attingal has mostly been relegated to play second fiddle to the more salubrious and urbane part of Thiruvananthapuram where political kings rule the roost.
But, Attingal commands a never-before kind of political attention this time for the high voltage contest to win the hearts of the kings and queens of Attingal.The Lok Sabha segment touches upon beaches and heights of Varkala and runs through an arc of fertile hilly terrain on the foothills of Western Ghats stretching from the north west of Thiruvananthapuram to its extreme south-east end.

The fight is mainly between CPM’s sitting MP A Sampath and Congress leader and five-time MLA and former minister Adoor Prakash. BJP state general secretary Sobha Surendran is also a force to reckon, especially against the background of the Sabarimala issue. CPM hold sway over six of the total seven assembly segments in the Lok Sabha constituency. However, Attingal -- erstwhile Chirayankeezhu Lok Sabha constituency -- has a history of sending to Parliament Congress candidates for five consecutive terms from 1971 to 1989. Sampath, who represented the constancy thrice, had won the seat with a huge margin of over 69,000 votes in 2014.
LDF candidates won by a margin of over 10,000 to 20,000 votes in three of the assembly segments - Attingal, Chirayankeezhu and Vamanapuram - in the 2016 assembly elections. Also, the LDF wrested from UDF Varkala, Nedumangad and Kattakkada assembly seats in 2016 by a narrow margin ranging from 849 votes in Kattakkada to 3,621 votes in Nedumangad. Aruvikkara, the only seat the UDF now holds, was retained by Congress by an impressive margin in 2016 elections. The recent political history, thus doesn’t permit to paint Attingal Lok Sabha segment in any single political colour.
Sampath banks on his performance as a parliamentarian. To criticisms that he was a huge failure in bringing development to the Atttingal segment, Sampath tells people in short sentences that he was a promoter of small, but, useful projects. “We are facing a major examination. The country cannot afford to fail. To save the country from Narendra Modi, you all should vote for the CPM,” he tells voters. It’s for the first time that Sampath is fighting prominent Congress and BJP leaders in the election.
It’s the personal and political experience that make Adoor Prakash, the five-time MLA of Konni, a tough opponent. “The major point of discussion is lack of development in the constituency. Other than a few high-mast lamps, waiting sheds and school buses, the MP has not contributed nothing substantial to Attingal,” Prakash said. The anti-incumbency and Sabarimala issue would help UDF in Attingal, he added. His general acceptance among Congress men is an added advantage.
NDA’s Sobha Surendran too is focusing on development and Sabarimala. “The Attingal Lok Sabaha segment is hugely under-developed. The issue of fishermen, coir workers, cashew workers are never attended to. Nothing has been done to tap the huge tourism potential of Varkala and Ponmudi hills. Why the MP has failed to bring not even a single large-scale project to the constituency?,” she said. Sobha strongly believes that the Sabarimala issue would play a major role in the election and it would favour NDA.