Kerala's Malampuzha constituency 'decked up' for Achuthanandan

Palakkad (Kerala) March 23  Though the CPI-M's final list of candidates is yet to be out, Malampuzha assembly constituency near here is all decked up for 92-year-old V.S. Achuthanandan, amid high expectations of his win for a record fourth successive term.

Kerala goes to the polls on May 16 to elect 140 members to the 14th Kerala legislative assembly.

The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) workers at the constituency have already started their work. They are painting the walls announcing the candidature of the veteran, who will arrive in the constituency on Saturday for the first time since the poll dates were announced.

"The writings have begun and many walls have already been booked. The party committees at all levels have had a few rounds of discussions on how to go ahead with the campaign," said a CPI-M worker.

It was in 2001 that Achuthanandan started to treat Malampuzha as his second home after suffering a shock defeat in the 1996 polls at his home turf in Mararikulam in Alappuzha district.

Starting in 2001, at Malampuzha he won with a slender margin of 4,703 votes, and increased his lead to 20,017 votes in 2006 and went on to become the chief minister.

In 2011, he returned again to contest and further improved his margin to 23,440 votes.

All eyes are now on who his rival would be and also what the margin of victory would be.

Overall this is the 8th time the veteran is going to contest tghe assembly polls. The first was way back in 1967 from Ambalapuzha, then followed in 1970 against from Ambalapuzha, and then in 1991 from Mararikulam.