THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It is official. The Neyyattinkara by-poll is just 38 days away. The Election Commission has announced that the by-election will be held on June 2 for the seat vacated by CPM’s R Selvaraj 47 days ago.Selvaraj who had won the seat defeating Thampanoor Ravi of the Congress by a margin of 6,702 votes last year is a candidate again with UDF support. Though initially Selvaraj seemed to have an edge, the fifth minister controversy came as a bolt from the blue in a caste-sensitive constituency. The LDF has fielded F Lawrence, once a UDF man and now darling of the Left. Both have grassroots-level influence and belong to the Nadar community which makes the largest constituent with 40 per cent of the 1,59,591 voters. Lawrence is a CSI member while Selvaraj is a Latin Christian.The UDF may face a backlash as Vaikunta Swami Dharma Pracharanasabha (VSDP), an outfit of Nadars, has vowed to teach it a lesson because the latter had not fulfilled the promises, including ministership, to the community.The LDF is also in trouble as there are voices of dissent against Lawrence. He is in the fray overtaking K A Anzalan, a CPM member, who is not in the good books of the official faction. The BJP has made a tactical move by fielding O Rajagopal, its most popular face in the state, to cash in on the resentment of the majority community and give sleepless nights to both the fronts.UDF controls Neyyattinkara municipality and four panchayats Kulathur, Karod, Chengal and Thirupuram coming under the constituency while LDF has only one panchayat, Athiyannoor, to its credit.
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