On counting day,this is one constituency Prakash Karat will be watching keenly and not just because it is his hometown. An equally keen watcher will be Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan,again not just because he represents Malampuzha,one of Palakkads Assembly segments. What is historic (new would have sufficed for lesser parties) is that there is no electoral outcome that can make both Marxists happy. Till now,whenever this red bastion swung away from the party,it has been for reasons external. This time,however,the adversity (read Achuthanandan) is well within. It is an unusually dissonant CPI(M) that is defending this seat which it won four times in a row. N N Krishnadas,the sitting MP,seen as far too friendly with the CM for Pinarayi Vijayans liking,was dropped despite not having any incumbency issues. The replacement,M B Rajesh,a young lawyer and electoral new face,however,betrays no fear of revolt and expects goodwill votes in the bulk. People know me here and through 20 years of public life,I have made many friends, he said. He is as home-grown as Palakkads very own rice breeds and is no implant like Congress rival Satheesan Pacheni. Satheesan retorts that people particularly its 42,000 first time voters vote for reasons better than geographical indicators. He should know his poll calculus. He contested twice for the Assembly and lost to no less a rival than Achuthanandan,thanks to whose very loyalists he hopes to be third time lucky. In any case,his own partymen are no big help. Busloads flock to cheer Rahul Gandhi but the starched Khadi-clads cant sweat it out in the states worst summer zone. Congress squads havent even reached many pliable households while Marxists have already made three rounds. Can Satheesan then turn to Palakkads perennial party pooper,the BJP,for help? The saffron party here has for decades stayed delicately sub-optimal good enough to win no more than municipal polls and big enough to spoil the rest. No way,says candidate C K Padmanabhan. Ill maximize votes against both minority appeasers. The Congress has links with sundry Muslim groups including the NDF and the Marxists are with Madhani. In a state among the few where the Congress can hope to gain seats,can the BJP afford to be so even-handed? Every Congress seat loss counts and the famously portable BJP core vote could drift to the Left. There is a far more single-minded spoiler on the scene. M R Murali,a recent CPI(M) deserter,isnt just a bitter rebel; he has enough clout in these parts to nibble into the Left vote. He is wooing those of the disillusioned comrades who cant quite get over their chronic rivalry with the Congress. His poll symbol is the TV set,a hate symbol for the Left for other reasons too. Malayalam channels have for months been breaking prime news on the rifts in the Left and the last eight-week average shows as much as a 50 per cent rise in news viewership. As the sound and feigned fury of the campaign is drawing to a close,all one hears is a single question. No candidates,no issue,only how many Left voters will ditch? This is no psephologist-friendly poll. First came delimitation and now an even less quantifiable Left sentiment against the official Left. You see autorickshaw drivers from CITU distributing anti-CPI(M) pamphlets. You hear about the end of such a thing as a Communist home. Will Palakkads comrades stay with the partys state chief,who is staying on despite a corruption case or save the CM,a convenient crusader,staying on despite much humiliation? The Election Commission is duly conducting a poll for the CPI(M).
