Lok Sabha poll | Thrissur: High profile candidates, unpredictable electorate

Thrissur's high-stakes election with unpredictable history, featuring high-profile candidates and religious subtext, draws national attention.

Election fever had gripped Thrissur much before its announcement. Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself launched the National Democratic Alliance’s campaign here in January.

Soon, graffities started appearing for sitting MP T.N. Prathapan of the United Democratic Front, former Agriculture Minister V.S. Sunil Kumar of the Left Democratic Front, and actor-turned politician Suresh Gopi of the NDA.

Then the Congress replaced Mr. Prathapan with K. Muraleedharan. This came against the backdrop of Mr. Muraleedharan’s sister Padmaja Venugopal migrating to the BJP from the Congress.

With three high profile candidates in the mix, Thrissur is one of the keenly-watched constituencies in Kerala. However, not alone the high-profile candidates, but its highly unpredictable political history too draws attention.

The political history of the Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency is full of anti-climaxes. In the past six elections, sitting MPs/parties had tasted defeat here. The electorate kept the parties on tenterhooks by shifting its loyalty between the LDF and the UDF. It has a history of defeating K. Karunakaran, Mr. Muraleedharan, and Padmaja Venugopal in the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.

From 1952 to 2019, Thrissur stood with the LDF 10 times, including the victory of Communist Party of India (CPI)’s V.V. Raghavan over Karunakaran by 1,480 votes in 1996. UDF candidates have been elected from the constituency seven times.

If the past two Assembly elections are any indication, the LDF has an upper hand in Thrissur. It emerged victorious in all the seven constituencies — Guruvayur, Manalur, Ollur, Thrissur, Nattika, Irinjalakuda, Puthukkad — in the 2021 elections. However, the electoral fortunes used to differ in the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.