Manjeshwar, May 2: Indian Union Muslim League (IUML)’s AKM Ashraf is facing competition from Bharatiya Janata Party leader (BJP) K Surendran and Left Democratic Front (LDF)’s VV Rameshan.
After a single phase of polling on April 6, amid the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, counting of votes is underway in Kerala. Trends suggest that Ashraf is leading Surendran by 1,355 votes in Manjeshwar assembly constituency.
It is to be noted that counting is in progress and the lead stands to sway
IUML’s PB Abdul Razak had defeated BJP’s Surendran by a narrow margin of just 89 votes in the 2016 Assembly elections in Kerala. Abdul Razak had polled 56,870 votes in 2016 as against K Surendran’s 56,781 votes. After Razak passed away, by-polls were held and UDF had managed to retain the seat.
In the 2021 Assembly polls, Surendran, who is the Kerala BJP president, is facing IUML’s Ashraf, who is representing the United Democratic Front.
Notably, Manjeshwaram is considered an IUML stronghold; LDF had won the seat once in 2006.
A total of six candidates contested from the Manjeshwaram Assembly constituency, including Ashraf and Surendran. The remaining four are VV Rameshan of the Communist Party of India CPI(M), Praveen Kumar S of the Anna Democratic Human Rights Movement Party of India, and independent candidates John D Souza and Surendran M.
Counting of votes for the assembly polls is also underway across Assam, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and the Union Territory of Puducherry.
K Surendran trailing in both constituencies
BJP State president KSurendran who contested from Manjeshwaram and Konni, is trailing in both seats. The saffron party hoped for positive results from Konni as it was majorly impacted by the Sabarimala protests in 2018. The BJP had also made significant gains from the seat in 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Sabarimala was a focus point in campaigning in Kerala by all parties.
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