This Article is From Nov 05, 2009

Kerala elections: The peculiar case of Kannur

Kannur: A test for the Left: that's the real significance of the three by-elections in Kerala on Saturday.

In the general elections, earlier this year, the Left Democratic Front, led by the CPM won 4 of the 20 seats, a sign of how it's falling out of favour with its voters.

The by-elections in Ernakulum, Kannur, and Alappuzha come after the MLAs from all three constituencies stood for - and won- Lok Sabha seats.  All three winners were from the Congress.

But it's Kannur that the Left really cares about, mainly because it's a battle for prestige. This part of North Kerala is a Left stronghold, with the odd exception of the Kannur assembly seat.  The last time the CPM won the Kannur assembly seat was in 1957.  So the chief minister and almost half his cabinet have been camping here, asking voters to switch sides.

A new peculiarity for Kannur is that this time around, the Left is fighting one of its former leaders.  The LDF's candidate is MV Jayarajan,   a high-profile leader and loyalist of party secretary Pinarayi Vijayan.

Against him, stands AP Abdullakutty, who was the Left's MP from here, till he was expelled by the CPM for praising Narendra Modi.  Now, as befits a Congress candidate, he has new inspiration. "I am fascinated by Manmohanji's economics and governance. And Rahul Gandhi inspires me," he says.

Kerala votes for its next government in 2010, so these by-elections are also being seen as a sign of things to come.
.