As one approaches Vengara in Malappuram district of Kerala, there is a spattering of glittering shopping malls and commercial complexes. A quick glance around the town will tell you this is no ordinary constituency. Smooth tarred roads, fancy restaurants, juice bars, internet cafes, giant shops selling gold ornaments and concrete bridges over rivers - the infrastructure here rivals that of bigger nearby towns such as Tirur and Parappanangadi. And that’s because Vengara partly has been blessed and endowed with the backing of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), the strongest party in the district. Vengara’s Muslim-majority voters will go to cast their ballot on Wednesday in a bye-election after its sitting MLA PK Kunhalikutty, lovingly called Kunjapa by his supporters, vacated the seat to get elected to Lok Sabha from Malappuram. “Kunjapa was born and raised here. He lives here. He has worked a lot to solve the drinking water situation and provide good roads,” said Naseeruddin Saini, a ward member elected on an IUML ticket. Shaiju, who drives a taxi and whose wife’s hometown is Vengara, attests to the same. “That’s his house. Anyone can go there. He mingles with everyone without differences,” he said pointing to a palatial house near the Kadalundi river. It is this people-pleasing ability of Kunhalikutty, a former Industries Minister in the Congress-led government and the IUML national general secretary, that has worked in reaping the electoral benefits in Vengara. In fact, the IUML’s strength is so palpable that locals say even if the candidate sleeps through the election, he/she could still win. Gulf money and remittances But the second and equally significant reason behind Vengara’s infrastructural advancement is owed to the remittances flowing into the economy from expatriate Malayalis working in GCC countries like UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Kuwait. “Nearly 50,000 people from Vengara alone are working in the Gulf, each sending a minimum of Rs 30,000 back home every month,” said Krishnadas CK, state executive member of the CPM’s expatriate organisation. Krishnadas explains that the emigration movement into GCC countries began in Malappuram and Kerala in the 1960s with people finding massive economic benefits there. At a time when Kerala and large parts of the country reeled under unemployment, people moving to Gulf countries in search of jobs were able to pull their families out of abject poverty and starvation with the money they earned there. It led to a situation where many villages then had households mostly led by women. “But the travel was dangerous then. They used to go in a launch (large open motorboat). Abject conditions at sea affected many. I remember two people who travelled with my brother died enroute,” said Krishnadas. It is no secret that remittances from expatriate Malayalis form a significant part of the Kerala economy. In fact, villages in areas like Vengara are powered by such kind of money. But the fallout is that there is a lot of illegal wealth and money funneled through hawala operators too. “Vengara really suffered during the note ban last year. People stood in queues all day. Small and big people took a hit,” said Krishnadas. Riyaz, who owns a hotel in Vengara town, spoke of businesses crashing in the fallout of demonetisation. “We began the venture in October last year. And they announced note ban the next month. People stopped coming. They are not capable of cashless methods. Everything crashed. We had to close the hotel for sometime. We reopened again with money from a Gulf-based investor. But business is still dull,” he said. Over the years, the Nitaqat policy of Saudi Arabia, when the Kingdom started preferring locals for private sector jobs, and the crisis in west Asian countries like Libya and Tunisia have affected emigration of Malayalis. Abu Backer, a resident of Vengara, says there will be movement of Malayalis to GCC countries in equal measure. “People will keep coming back and forth,” he said. The formula seems clear. As long as the IUML holds fort and remittances don't stop, Vengara won’t have much to worry about.
