Neyyattinkara bracing for a tough battle

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With the announcement of F Lawrence as the LDF candidate in Neyyattinkara byelection, R Selvaraj will have to face a tough battle in less than 15 months in the same constituency which he had won with a comfortable majority. The LDF is apparently giving a tit for tat against the UDF considering the political background of the candidates.If Selvaraj had given a shock treatment for the CPM and the LDF with his resignation as MLA, Lawrence was the president of the Kerala Congress (Jacob) in Parassala Assembly segment till 1998 before turning into a  fellow traveller of the LDF. Lawrence 50, entered politics through the students’ wing of the Kerala Congress (Jacob) and got elected to Karod grama panchayat in 1995 as a UDF candidate. He had contested the Parassala block panchayat in 2000 as an independent candidate after he was denied a ticket by the UDF. The LDF supported him in the last-minute by withdrawing its candidate. The result was a victory for Lawrence with a margin of nearly 2,500 votes and he is a member of the Parassala block panchayat for the past 12 years. He had won from Parassala division in 2005 and represents Karod since 2010. He got elected as an LDF-backed independent in the past two elections. On the other hand, Selvaraj, 63, was the first SFI chairman of the VTM NSS College, Dhanuvachapuram, as a student of BA Political Science. He had served as a member of the Kollayil panchayat in 1978 and later, became its vice-president. He lost to N Sundaran Nadar in 2001 election while he defeated him after five years in Parassala Constituency before moving to Neyyatinkara in 2011. After the delimitation, the new constituency consists of 140 wards in five panchayats, Athiyannur, Chenkal, Karode, Kulathur and Thirupuram along with Neyyattinkara Municipality.The CPM is counting on the influence of Lawrence in the two panchayats attached to Parassala Constituency cutting across party and caste considerations. They also expect that his poor financial background will fetch votes from the lower strata of the society.Though both of them are from the Christian Nadar community, Lawrence belongs to the CSI sect while Selvaraj is a member of the Latin Church. Nair community claims to be the second largest in number while Ezhava community has also a sizable number in the constituency. It is expected that castes will have a major say in the election results as the area presents a mosaic of various castes and sects of Christians.