Kerala: Nemom braces for a fierce triangular battle

AS the afternoon solarise began to back away o'er the celestial horizon, a fold of Congress workers and a few jeeps fitted with loudspeakers blaring the party’s campaign song began to assemble outside the Pachalloor Juma Masjid, waiting for the candidate KS Sabarinadhan to arrive. The mosque is located on a narrow road running parallel to the National Highway-66, about eight kilometres from Thiruvananthapuram city, in the Nemom assembly constituency, one of the fiercely contested seats in poll-bound Kerala.As the road clogs with evening traffic, soon enough, Sabarinadhan, a two-time former MLA and the son of late veteran Congress leader G Karthikeyan, arrives in a white Innova. The Congress cadres rush forward to garland him while some jostle for selfies. The workers lead him to a roadside shop where he gets a cup of tea, makes a brief speech about the importance of the election and quickly mounts an open jeep to rush towards another corner of the constituency.Sabarinadhan, a 42-year-old lawyer who entered politics following the demise of his father in 2015, is rightfully in a hurry because he has to make his presence felt in all parts of a constituency which is under a national spotlight. It’s here in Nemom, a largely urban, middle-class constituency, that the BJP got its first and only MLA in Kerala in 2016. And much of the “blame,” for paving a BJP win here, had fallen on the Congress, which had allocated the seat in 2016 to its then ally JD(U) which under-performed. In 2021, the Congress, promising to “close the BJP account” fielded its heavyweight K Muralidharan. He increased the party’s vote-share by 16%, resulting in a BJP loss, but ended up third anyway behind CPI(M) and BJP.And so, in a contest this time largely billed as a fight between sitting CPI(M) MLA and state education minister V Sivankutty and BJP state chief Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the votes garnered by Sabarinadhan are expected to be the game-changer. While winning could be a tall order, Sabarinadhan’s performance will likely determine the fortunes of the CPI(M) and the BJP.Ibrahim, a coir worker in his 70s and longtime Nemom voter, said, “If all three parties retain their respective voter bases, it will lead to a CPI(M) victory like last time. But if there is a dent in the Congress vote-share, it is advantage BJP.”But Sabarinadhan doesn’t agree with that arithmetic. He says there’s a landslide wave building up in favour of the Congress-led UDF in the state, as a mark of public anger against the incumbent LDF government, which will flip even seats like Nemom.“It is evident that people want a change of power in the state. Also, the BJP is looking to win here, but their promises after winning the recent Thiruvananthapuram corporation election have fallen flat. There is a sense among people that the BJP-led Union government has done nothing for the state. So the social conditions are in favour of us,” he told HT.The BJP cadre in Kerala often refer to Nemom as the party’s Gujarat in the state, it’s citadel. Recent poll numbers too point that way. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Chandrasekhar as the candidate from Thiruvananthapuram got a 22,000-vote lead in the constituency and in the 2025 local body polls, the BJP clinched 15 of the 23 municipal wards falling in the constituency and a lead of over 5,000 votes. With Chandrasekhar running largely a professional campaign rooted in development and staying away from controversial themes associated with Hindutva, the BJP believes the lotus can bloom again in Nemom.“We are fighting to win not just Nemom, but multiple seats in Kerala. Since we have won here in the past, the expectations here are higher. My plank is that the people have given opportunities to both the Congress and the Left and all they have gotten is high unemployment and price rise. Around 40% of voters here live with open drains and sewers. In 60% of the constituency, there are no motorable roads,” the BJP state chief told HT recently.Chandrasekhar, as part of his campaign, has released a blueprint for Nemom which includes projects for tourism development, reducing drinking water shortage and generating jobs.CPI(M)’s V Sivankutty, on the other hand, is banking on his party’s grassroots network, his stint as the education minister, and his familiarity among voters as a two-time MLA and former city mayor to see him through. Despite being 71 and plagued by some health issues, Sivankutty continues to trudge through the city’s urban neighbourhoods and address small family meetings to galvanise his cadre. At one such family meeting, a few residents walked up to him and told him that the drinking water shortage was acute.Sivankutty later told HT, “They are able to come up to me and voice such issues because they know I will be here for them. I am familiar to them even before as the mayor of the city. But the BJP candidate (Chandrasekhar) is a crorepati. Would he wait to hear their problems? Can he tolerate the smell of the sweat of the poor?”Sivankutty claims that he has implemented ₹1,000-crore worth projects in the constituency over the last five years. “19 of the 23 schools here have gotten new buildings. I sanctioned a new Industrial Training Institute (ITI) and built a new walkway along the Karamana river. There is proof for the development we have brought here,” he said.Kerala goes to the polls on April 9 and the votes will be counted on May 4.