Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Kerala's Pathanamthitta Lok Sabha constituency is likely to witness a tripartite contest in the upcoming general elections with the BJP giving a ticket to veteran Congress leader AK Antony’s son Anil Antony and Congress maintaining its faith in Anto Antony who is the sitting MP in the seat. CPI-M fielded Thomas Isaac from the seat.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set to visit Pathanamthitta on March 17 to campaign for the party.
The BJP, which is hopeful of opening its account in Kerala in the Lok Sabha polls, faces a challenge of the sitting MP who has been re-fielded in the election. Pathanamthitta is the only constituency in the state where all three candidates of the political fronts are Catholics.
The BJP on March 2 announced the names of 195 candidates for the Lok Sabha polls and came out with the second list of 72 candidates.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, BJP state president K Surendran had put up a fighting show securing over 2,00,000 votes. He has not been fielded by the party this time.
Who is Anil Antony?
Anil Antony, the son of Congress veteran AK Antony, was earlier a member of the grand old party before joining the BJP in 2023. His father did not support his decision of quitting the party, which he has been a part of for decades.
The Congress-led UDF alliance has maintained its dominance in the Pathanamthitta region in Kerala, however, the support base for the alliance reduced notably in the last decade.
About Pathanamthitta Lok Sabha constituency
The Pathanamthitta Lok Sabha constituency has noticed a stable and consistent voting pattern as the electorates voted for Congress candidate Anto Antony thrice since 2009 general elections. He secured 4,08,232 against CPM's Anantha Gopan and BJP's Radhakrishna Menon in 2009. In 2014, Antony got 358,842 votes contesting against BJP's MT Remesh and Independent's Peelipose Thomas. In 2019, Antony secured 380,927 votes, against CPM's Veena George and BJP's K Surendran. The constituency recorded a voter turnout of 74.19 per cent in the 2019 elections.
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