He emerges as the party’s choice on the back of four consecutive wins in the constituency
Paravur has always favoured the Congress.
But winds of change have swept across the segment on a few occasions as the CPI, the second biggest constituent in the Left Democratic Front (LDF), won it five times. It was kind of family affair for the CPI, when it won the seat through N. Sivan Pillai for the first time in 1957.
On two more occasions, the CPI leader won the seat for his party in 1982 and 1987 before handing down the mantle to his son, P. Raju.
Following in the footsteps of his father, Mr. Raju won the seat twice, in 1991 and 1996.
Incidentally, it was a young congressman, V.D. Satheesan, whom Mr. Raju trounced in the 1996 polls, when the CPI won the seat last.
The next five years witnessed the resurgence of the Congress in the constituency led by Mr. Satheesan, who worked at the grassroots levels to retain the seat.
In what could be considered as a case of sweet political…
