The Muslim heartland of Ponnani is one of the Lok Sabha seats in north Kerala which the United Democratic Front (UDF) is sure to win in the May 10 polls.

Mumbai-born Gulam Mahmood Banatwala, who has been winning from Ponnani in all the Lok Sabha elect ions since 1977 except once in 1991, has been sidelined this time to make way for E. Ahmed, who like Banatwala is a veteran leader of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), a key partner of the UDF.

Banatwala, who does not even speak the voters' language, has done nothing much for his constituency which religiously voted him to the Lok Sabha in the last three decades with enviable majority.

His replacement with Ahmed will help silence the Left Democratic Front (LDF) which used Banatwala's drawbacks to win Muslim votes in the past, though unsuccessfully. The LDF was also trying to make the non-utilisation of Local Area Development Fund of Banatwala a major issue this time.

P.P. Suneer of the LDF, a youthful Communist Party of India (CPI) activist who made his political debut as a leader of the All India Student Federation (AISF), is Ahmed's main rival. The 36-year-old Suneer, a noted orator, had lost to Banatwala last time by a margin of 130,000 votes.

The UDF is now exhorting the electorate to surpass its impressive voting records of the past and set 'a new record majority' for Ahmed. His record as an MP from the neighbouring Manjery and his stature as a national leader will help him in respect. Ahmed, a frequent visitor to the Gulf countries, is known to be close to Congress patriarch K. Karunakaran. A law graduate, he had served as Industries Minister in the Karunakaran Cabinet from 1982 to 1987. He has a long record in the State Assembly. He was sent to the Assembly from Kannur in 1967 and from Koduvally in 1977. He also won three times from the Tanur Assembly segment from 1980 to 1991.

That the Muslims constitute nearly 68 per cent of the 1.1-million-odd electorate in Ponnani is also a major factor in his favour. The IUML bagged five out of the seven Assembly segments in the Lok Sabha constituency in the 2001 elections. They are Tirur, Kuttippuramm, Thirurangadi, Tannur and Perinthalmanna. Of the other two Assembly segments, the Congress won Ponnani and the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Mankada, with a razor- thin margin.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) too has fielded N. Aravindan in Ponnani where it has been increasing its share of votes ever since it entered the constituency in 1989. A post graduate, 38-year-old Aravindan worked for the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyathi Parishad (ABVP) in his college days.

Both Ahmed and Suneer are highlighting the need for the constituency's development. Their promises cover bringing the constituency to the state's railway map and streamlining sick industries. Suneer makes it a point to tell the voters that the IUML is solely responsible for the region's appalling backwardness.