Alappuzha is one of the keenly watched constituencies in the country from where Congress General Secretary K C Venugopal is contesting the Lok Sabha elections.

After winning the constituency in 2009 and 2014, Venugopal didn’t contest for a third time in 2019 and subsequently, the party lost the seat.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in Kerala, while the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) secured victory from 19 constituencies, the CPI-M-led LDF managed to clinch only in Alappuzha. CPI-M nominee AM Arif won the seat with a slender margin of 10,474 votes then.

Congress leaders in Kerala were unanimous in their decision that Venugopal should return to fight from Alappuzha to regain the lone seat the party lost in the 2019 elections when he opted out of the contest.

Considered the right-hand man of former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Venugopal has been a three-time MLA and a two-term MP in the Lok Sabha and is currently a Rajya Sabha member from Rajasthan. He was a cabinet minister in the Kerala government as well as a junior minister in the Union government twice.

While the CPI-M has once again nominated AM Arif, the BJP has fielded its firebrand leader Sobha Surendran from here. This constituency comprises the assembly constituencies of Aroor, Cherthala, Alappuzha, Ambalapuzha, Haripad, Kayamkulam, and Karunagappally.

The confrontation between the CPI-M and Congress in the constituency, as in other constituencies in the state, is dominated by issues such as the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), Uniform Civil Code (UCC), and other concerns related to minority communities.

The CAA has become a major issue in Kerala in the Lok Sabha elections and both the CPI-M and Congress are vying with each other to project as the champion of the Muslim cause.

In 2019, the CPI-M used the CAA issue to woo Muslims and some Muslim organisations lauded the Left Government for its firm stand against the CAA.

The Congress and the CPI-M seemed to vie with each other to tap into the growing fear that the CAA was patent ‘anti-Muslim’. They are competing with each other to woo the Muslim voters stating that “we will protect your interest at any cost”.

The Congress will use the Centre’s CAA notification as an opportunity to regain the lost confidence of the Muslim community while the CPI-M will use the issue for further consolidation of Muslim votes in its favour.

Winning back the trust of Muslims is crucial for Congress to win elections. The party is spearheading the issue more aggressively to assuage the wounded psyche of the Muslims.

The alleged dubious transactions between Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s daughter’s Exalogic Solutions and the Kochi-based mining company Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd (CMRL) may be raised by the BJP and Congress during the campaign to attack the chief minister and the LDF.

The ruling LDF also faced attacks from the Opposition over many issues including the non-payment of welfare pensions, delay in payment of salaries to government employees, ragging and assaults on campuses, and the death of Sidharthan at the Veterinary University hostel at Pookode in Wayanad.

Though initially it was felt that Alappuzha would witness a direct fight between Congress’ Venugopal and CPI-M’s AM Arif, the BJP by fielding Sobha Surendran changed the scenario. Now, the contest here has turned out to be a triangular fight. The BJP expects to cut into the vote base of both the LDF and the UDF.

Sobha Surendran is actively campaigning in the constituency enumerating the achievements of the Modi government The party is expecting its senior leader Sobha Surendr to spring a surprise this time here.

Hence, it is not going to be a walkover for K C Venugopal. As of now he is facing a tough challenge from AM Arif, but enjoys a slight edge. However, if the BJP performs well and cuts into the anti-incumbency vote, things might get difficult for the Congress.