Thrithala, spread across the banks of the Bharathapuzha in Palakkad and one of the 140 Assembly constituencies in Kerala, will receive a lot of attention this summer. The Communist Party of India – Marxist – CPI(M) – has just announced that MB Rajesh, former Member of Parliament (MP) from Palakkad and a very active spokesperson of the party, will contest from Thrithala in the upcoming elections. It has been the seat of Congress leader VT Balram, another well-known young politician, for the past 10 years.
The constituency, which comprises eight grama panchayats in the Pattambi Taluk, has had both the Congress and the CPI(M) take power alternately for long. For 20 years before Balram took over as MLA, the seat was won by CPI(M) candidates for four consecutive terms. For 15 years before that – between 1977 and 1991 – the Congress had kept the seat.
With two popular spokespersons of rival parties expected to duel each other this time, the constituency is likely to be in the limelight.
Immediately after the candidate announcement, MB Rajesh told Manorama News that an election is never a fight between individuals but between the parties they represent, the ideologies they believe in. He will be approaching the people citing the implementation of policies and achievements made by the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) in the past five years, he said.
Watch: MB Rajesh on contesting from Thrithala
The Congress has not yet released its candidate list but VT Balram is likely to contest for the third consecutive time from Thrithala. He has been known for airing his political views against the LDF and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He also has a very active presence and a huge following on social media. He has often landed in controversies for his views and sarcastic comments on well-known personalities.
Recently, Rajesh too was in a controversy regarding the appointment of his wife R Ninitha as a university professor. Rajesh, quite often appearing as a party spokesperson on television discussions, had lost his Lok Sabha constituency in 2019 to Congress candidate VK Sreekandan.
Interestingly, the Thrithala constituency is also known for the village Thrithala it comprises. Legend says that once upon a time, Vararuchi, a sage, married an oppressed caste woman and had 12 children with her in Thrithala. He abandoned all of them and the 12 children were raised by people from different castes. They made Thrithala their karma bhoomi – land of one’s actions.