Kerala polls: CPI(M) leader K.K. Shailaja confident of winning from Peravoor, considered a Congress bastion

CPI(M) leader K.K. Shailaja aims to capture Peravoor, leveraging development promises and local dissatisfaction with Congress leadership

Senior Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader and Left Democratic Front (LDF) candidate K.K. Shailaja is confident about wresting the Peravoor assembly segment in Kerala from the Congress banking on a mix of development promises, past administrative experience and what she termed as “growing dissatisfaction” over the lack of major initiatives in the constituency in the past 15 years.

Ms. Shailaja, who represented Peravoor in 2006, told The Hindu that the constituency, traditionally considered a Congress bastion, in Kannur district had undergone political shifts after delimitation, even as UDF candidate and KPCC president Sunny Joseph retained the seat in the last three elections.

“The UDF may have had an upper hand post-delimitation, but their victories were by narrow margins — once by around 6,000 votes and in other instances by 3,400 or less. That itself shows the political mood is not one-sided,” she added.

She attributed previous defeats partly to organisational weakness in certain pockets and failure to fully mobilise committed votes, but maintained that the current political climate favours the LDF. Despite three consecutive terms under the UDF, the constituency in northern Kerala saw no major development and that has led to growing resentment, she said.

Ms. Shailaja, a Central Committee member of the CPI(M), contested the UDF’s development narrative, particularly on infrastructure projects. She said foundational work for the Hill Highway project in the region was undertaken during her earlier tenure as MLA, including the most difficult phase of alignment and land acquisition, after extensive consultation with local residents.

“The stretch between Ulikal and Vallithode was completed then. Later, the project stalled under the UDF and it was only after LDF came to power that it was included under the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) project and completed,” the former State Health Minister said. She rejected claims that delays were caused by LDF intervention, maintaining that the alignment had already been finalised earlier.