The Manjeswaram constituency, in Kasargod district, is gearing up for yet another closely contested battle, as the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have fielded the same candidates.
Sitting MLA AKM Asharaf of IUML is taking on BJP’s K Surendran again. Asharaf won with a wafer-thin majority over Surendran in the Assembly elections in 2021, and IUML won over BJP by a hair’s breadth in 2016.
Already setting the stage for some political drama was the withdrawal of nomination by Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) candidate KM Asharaf. A namesake of the IUML candidate Asharaf, the SDPI party candidate was giving rise to concerns of splitting United Democratic Front (UDF) votes.
According to reports, the SDPI candidate withdrew his nomination at the request of UDF leaders. SDPI is considered the political arm of the Popular Front of India, which was banned in 2022 under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.
The final list of candidates published by the Election Commission, Manjeswaram, has 11 candidates. Apart from UDF’s Asharaf, National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) Surendran, Left Democratic Front’s (LDF) K Jayananda and BSP’s Sanjeeva, seven are contesting as independents. Of these, two are named Mohammed Asharaf and one D Surendran Nair. Surendran alleged that D Surendran Nair was a Congress worker from Thiruvananthapuram.
Speaking to the media, Surendran challenged Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan to declare that the UDF does not need SDPI votes. “If he has some spine, say whether you don’t need SDPI votes. I dare him,” he said. Surendran alleged that UDF leaders such as PK Kunhalikutty and Satheesan were behind the SDPI move.
In the 2021 Assembly election, Asharaf won over Surendran by a margin of 855 votes. In the 2016 Assembly election, the victory margin of IUML’s PM Abdul Razzak against Surendran was only 89 votes. That year, BSP candidate K Sundara secured 467 votes. It is said that the names of BJP’s K Surendran and BSP’s K Sundara were listed near each other in the ballot, and this created confusion among voters.
In 2021, though Sundara withdrew his nomination as an independent candidate, he later made an allegation that Surendran had offered him a bribe to do so. The Kerala High Court, in 2025, discharged Surendran in the poll bribery case. Though Sundara has claimed to contest again this year, he is absent from the poll picture.
SDPI question
The SDPI’s move in Manjeswaram triggered a debate over who they support in this election. While the withdrawal of candidature in Manjeswaram signalled siding with the UDF, political developments in Mankada and Vengara in Malappuram district showed its shift towards the LDF. In both these constituencies, CPI(M) has fielded independent candidates, who are rebels of IUML. SDPI has not fielded candidates in both these constituencies, reportedly to support LDF-backed independents.
SDPI state president CPA Lathif, meanwhile, told the media that the decision on whom to support will be taken only after reviewing their policies in their manifestos.