Aluva remains a traditional Congress citadel

The constituency has bucked electoral swings to stand firm with the UDF, except for three occasions

Aluva has largely remained a safe bet for the Congress.

A traditional bastion of the United Democratic Front (UDF), the constituency had bucked anti-incumbency and electoral swings to stand firm with the Congress, except for three occasions.

In the elections held in 1967, industrialist M.K.A. Hameed won as an Independent backed by the CPI(M). K. Mohammed Ali, who had won the constituency six times in a row, was part of the Indian National Congress (U) in the 1980 polls. A breakaway faction of the Congress (I) and led by A.K. Antony, the INC (U) was then an ally of the Left Democratic Front (LDF).

The CPI(M) had to wait for nearly two-and-a-half decades to break into the Congress citadel when its candidate A.M. Yousuf defeated Mr. Ali by a margin of 4,366 votes in 2006.

The Congress regained control of its traditional stronghold after Anwar Sadath, sitting MLA, defeated Mr. Yousuf by a margin of 13,214 votes in 2011. He retained the seat in 2016 by a margin of 18,835 votes against V. Saleem of the CPI(M).

An analysis of the vote share since 2011 revealed a dip for both the UDF and the LDF. From 47.66% in 2006 when Mr. Yousuf, its candidate, had emerged victorious, the LDF vote share went down to 39.9% in 2011, and it further slipped to 34.56% in 2016.

The Congress too had something to worry about, as its share dropped from 50.24% in 2011 to 47.39% in 2016.

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has gradually increased its vote share since the 2011 elections. From 6.46% in 2011, the coalition had more than doubled its vote share to 13.19% in 2016.

The last delimitation had changed the contours of Aluva, and it lost its industrial town status after Eloor and Edayar industrial areas, Kadungalloor grama panchayat, and Kalamassery Municipality were delinked from it. The segment now consists of Aluva Municipality, Chengamanad, Choornikkara, Edathala, Kanjoor, Keezhmadu, Nedumbassery, and Sreemoolanagaram.

Anwar Sadath is likely to be the UDF candidate for the third consecutive time. The Left aspirants may include a woman candidate, while the NDA is yet to finalise its probable list of candidates.

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