Thiruvananthapuram: Price rise, unemployment and related social issues are poll planks on which political parties normally argue or throw counter-punches in election campaigns.
In Kerala this time, at least two constituencies have completely different issues on which hinge the prospects of the parties in the fray: In Pathanamthitta, it is whether or not to have an airport, and in Idukki the question is how far society must compromise to ensure that the ecology is protected.
A single-point election issue is rare for a state like Kerala where multiple issues are always the norm, but in Idukki constituency this time it is a single-point debate for voters and parties alike — at what social cost should environment protection rules be enforced.
The Idukki constituency has been so embroiled in the reverberations caused by the Kasturirangan report meant to protect the environment that even the candidate choice seems to have been based on the issue. The sitting MP of the constituency, P.T. Thomas who favoured the Kasturirangan report was denied a seat by the Congress, while the Left parties threw their weight behind Joyce George, who represent the High Range Protection Committee which is opposing the recommendations of the Kasturirangan report.
The report is aimed at protection of the Western Ghats, but local people in Idukki fear that the recommendations will play havoc with their livelihoods. Catholic bishop Mathew Anikkuzhikkattil has been among those who have strongly criticized the recommendations. Thomas was engaged in a verbal duel with the Catholic Church, which apparently cost him the chance to defend his Lok Sabha seat.
Given the strong sentiment against the Kasturirangan recommendations and the fact that the Congress has not been able to clear the air on the possible impact of the report on the livelihoods of people in Idukki, political observers say it is an uphill task for the Congress candidate in Idukki, Dean Kuriakose.
In neighbouring Pathanamthitta constituency, the key election issue is the Aranmula International Airport, proposed to be set up by a Chennai-based company, with a minority equity partnership by the state government.
Peelipose Thomas, a rebel Congressman who had been a vocal critic of the airport project, has been fielded as the Left candidate in the constituency. Thomas is facing sitting Congress MP, Anto Antony, who says the airport will go a long way to ensure development for the Central Travancore region.
Kerala has three international airports at Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode and a fourth one is under construction in Kannur. Critics of the Aranmula project argue that a fifth airport will be one too many, while others point out that Pathanamthitta sits in the heart of Kerala’s NRI belt, and urgently needs an airport.
The airport was given a no-objection certificate by the previous V.S. Achuthanandan government, but the Left parties are now opposing the project.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has been stoutly opposing the airport project and the party was expected to make political capital out of the issue during election time. But with the Left parties backing Peelipose Thomas who is also a critic of the airport, the BJP appears to have lost its anti-airport platform to win votes.
