For proletarians, election is secondary

Kannur: The anchored boats at Ayikkara fishing harbour, with their faded flags, paint a gloomy picture. Fishermen Sugunan K and T Parthivan have just returned from the sea on their small fishing boat as the bigger vessels hadn't been used for several months, thanks to the depleting marine wealth.
“Before begging for votes, they should first talk about the troubles that ail us and assure concrete steps to tackle it.Even if we work the whole night, risking our lives, we don't even get a catch worth Rs 300,“ Parthivan's words reflect the sentiments of an entire community .
The mood is not very different in other places in the district. The working class is least interested in discussing elections. It is with this indifference that Kannur constituency , which comprises 40 of the 55 divisions in the corporation (besides Munderi panchayat) faces election this time.
Though current MLA A P Abdullakutty ­ who is contesting from Thalassery this time ­ had got 55,427 votes and won with a margin of 6,443 votes in 2011, the increase in the vote share of BJP could be a matter of concern for UDF as well as LDF . The BJP's vote share had risen to 10,547 in the local body elections from 4,568 in the 2011 assembly election.
Added to this is the rebel menace unleashed by a group led by former Congress leader P K Ragesh, who had played spoilsport in the corporation election as well.
To his credit, Congress candidate Satheesan Pacheni had taken on V S Achuthanandan in Malampuzha in 2001 and had considerably reduced the latter's victory margin. The constituency also has a history of supporting the Congress.
What gives confidence to LDF candidate Ramachandran Kadannappally is that the Left was able to garner 50,022 votes in the civic polls, compared to 48,993 obtained by the UDF .The question remains as to whether the Left front will also be able to woo the young voters.
Moreover, in the Lok Sabha election, UDF's K Sudhakaran had got 8,057 votes more than P K Sreemathi (LDF). Also, Kadannappally had tasted defeat last time too and Congress (S) was initially not very keen on this seat. Supporters of the Left believe that larger issues in the state, including allegations of widespread corruption, would influence the voters, which in turn would help the LDF .“If the Congress was so confident, why did the current MLA choose to contest from another constituency?“ K K Abdul Salam, a local LDF supporter, asked.
Though the BJP does not nurture any hope of victory here, the party is in high spirits because of the increasing number of votes it has been able to garner and also due to the image of its candidate K G Babu.As the secretary of the Thiyya Samud aya S ava s a m s k a r a S a h aya Sangham, Babu had fought to foil efforts to shift the cremation ground at Payyambalam.
“If no miracle happens in the last leg of the campaign, I'm sure Kannur will follow tradition because people belonging to both fronts share the same indifference and nobody expects any electoral revolution this time,“ said social critic K C Umesh Babu.