An intense battle is unfolding in Kerala’s Vadakara Lok Sabha constituency between the LDF’s KK Shailaja and the UDF’s Dhafi Parambil. Traditionally a Communist bastion, the CPI(M) lost Vadakara to the Congress in 2009 and has not been able to reclaim it since. To win Vadakara back, they have now fielded KK Shailaja, their most popular face in the state.
Affectionately called “Shailaja teacher”, KK Shailaja rose to international acclaim for her work during the Nippah outbreak and the coronavirus pandemic while she was Kerala’s health minister. She is believed to have a strong connection with the people, and the CPI(M) is banking on her goodwill to overcome barriers in Vadakara to reclaim it. When asked if she feels she is being packed off to the Parliament, Shailaja told TNM’s Sukanya Shaji that she sees this as a bigger opportunity. “This is an opportunity for me to raise people’s issues in our supreme legislature. This is what my party has decided and I stand by it,” she said.
The CPI(M)’s election failure in Vadakara is also influenced by the presence of the Revolutionary Marxist Party, a breakaway group of the CPI(M), formed by its late leader TP Chandrasekharan. Though the CPI(M) has denied any connection with his murder, many local leaders of the party were apprehended and convicted in the case. When asked if this would affect her victory, Shailaja said that such local issues are not significant in a Parliament election. “Here the aim is to oust the BJP nationally so that we can put an end to their fascist approach and protect secularism and the Constitution,” Shailaja added.
Watch the full interview here where she opens up about national politics, the importance of winning Vadakara for CPI(M), and much more