LDF candidate from Nemom Assembly constituency V. Sivankutty during a roadshow on Wednesday. | Photo credit: NIRMAL HARINDRAN
Nemom is a sort of gateway to the city of Thiruvananthapuram for those entering the Kerala capital from the Kanniyakumari side. For the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the constituency became a gateway to the Kerala Assembly when O. Rajagopal won from there in 2016. Five years later, however, the gate was closed for the party when V. Sivankutty of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) won back the constituency which he had comfortably won201.
This year, Mr. Sivankutty is in the fray again, in a constituency that is attracting attention from across the country because of the massive push being made by the BJP, led by its state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar. KS Sabarinadhan, a former Congress MLA from Aruvikkar and now a councilor in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, is waging a tough fight to regain the constituency, which the Congress failed to win after the 2008 delimitation.
As his open jeep, followed by a cycle rally of CPI(M) workers, passes through a narrow path between a residential area near Nemom junction with densely packed houses, Mr. Sivankutty gives an easy knowing wave to the many onlookers. This core connection, acquired over years of interactions at the level as a party worker, panchayat president, corporation mayor and MLA, was his USP in the recent elections. Speaking to The Hindu amid a hectic campaign, he contrasts his background with Mr. Chandrasekhar’s corporate past.
“All my life I have worked to solve the myriad of problems faced by the people. I think this election could be easier compared to the previous period. My campaign is focusing on the social and development efforts of the government, including the ₹900 crore development works that I have implemented in this constituency. My performance as Minister of General Education and Works has also won recognition here,” says Mr. Sivanty.
NDA candidate from Nemom Assembly constituency Rajeev Chandrasekhar interacting with people during the campaign on Wednesday. | Photo credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Much of Mr. Chandrasekhar’s campaign management is anchored in ‘Vikasita Nemom HQ’, a three-storey building with plush interiors near Kaimanam, where many party workers are involved in a host of online and offline campaign planning operations. The candidate, who also has responsibility for overseeing the party’s statewide campaign, stops by the campaign office every day during his hectic schedule to make sure everything is in order.
“When I came here to contest the Lok Sabha elections, I was a completely new person to the voters. Despite having only 35 days to campaign, the Nemom Assembly segment gave me a lead of 22,000 voters. Right after the elections, I said that I am grateful to the people here and now I am giving back to the people what they have given me. Even though the elections ended in Sabanthapura, I soon moved to Lokma Thiru I am not an MLA or an MP,” says Mr. Chandrasekhar.
The campaign trail, as his vehicle moves through the Estate ward, is aimed at casting the CPI(M)-led LDF and the Congress-led UDF as allies, posing as adversaries right now in Kerala. This message is interspersed with the party’s developmental slogan “Vikasita Keralam”. However, the BJP’s campaign has mostly avoided issues around religion, which are usually at the fore elsewhere in the country. The past mention of “gold theft” in Sabarimala is the only aberration.
Over the past week, Mr. Sivankutty and Mr. Chandrasekhar have challenged each other for a debate on development, but things have not progressed beyond open challenges. Although the BJP won most of the wards in the Nemom segment in the recent local body elections, a fact that gives Mr. Chandrasekhar a lot of confidence, Mr. Sivankutty says the BJP held a majority of these wards even in 2021 when it won.
UDF candidate from Nemom Assembly constituency KS Sabarinadhan was conversing with people in Poonthura on Wednesday. | Photo credit: NIRMAL HARINDRAN
Mr. Sabarinadhan’s campaign was energized by fast-paced Telugu songs on Wednesday as Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy led a roadshow around Nemom. In an apparent comeback gesture, Mr Reddy sent the crowd of Congress workers into a frenzy using a popular Malayalam film dialogue to target Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. Once the roadshow is over, Mr. Sabarinadhan tries to keep up with the day’s campaign schedule, which is already running two hours late, with several nooks and crannies of the constituency to cover.
“This time we have high hopes from Nemom constituency. It is true that we have not been able to emerge victorious in the last 2-3 elections after delimitation. But it still remains a pro-UDF constituency, with a social and political climate which is now suitable for Congress. The UDF team is getting an overwhelming response from all sections of people. Nemom is a very urban and rural region which is very backward in Congress but is also developed in India. The introduction of this era will make a big difference in people’s lives,” says Mr. Sabarinadhan.
Whoever emerges victorious in the Nemom constituency is expected to have only a relatively slim lead given the tight, three-cornered nature of the contest.
Published – 6 Apr 2026 10:01 AM IST
