Lok Sabha Elections 2019: A do-or-die battle for RSP in Kollam, Kerala - Hindustan Times
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Lok Sabha Elections 2019: A do-or-die battle for RSP in Kollam, Kerala

Hindustan Times, New Delhi | ByHT Correspondent
Apr 19, 2019 06:43 PM IST

While the Left will be looking to wrest back the seat from the Revolutionary Socialist Party, the contest will be a difficult one considering that the RSP candidate is a formidable leader and has a wide voter base.

Kollam is one of the 20 Lok Sabha constituencies of Kerala.

An election commission official checks an EVM.(Rahul Raut/HT Photo)
An election commission official checks an EVM.(Rahul Raut/HT Photo)

Till 1957, Kollam was part of the Mavelikara constituency. It became a Lok Sabha constituency after the delimitation exercise of 1957.

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Kollam is known to be a constituency where the Left is in a direct fight with the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP). Since its delimitation, the Congress has been voted in only four times with the constituency preferring to vote mostly for the RSP.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the RSP candidate NK Premachandran had defeated CPI(M)’s MA Baby by 37,649 votes.

This time again, the contest is expected to be between the RSP and the CPI(M). It’ll be a battle of survival for the RSP after it shifted its base from the LDF to the UDF camp a few months before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

Read: All you need to know about Kerala

While the RSP will field NK Premachandran, the CPI(M) is hosting former CPM district secretary and state secretariat member KN Balagopal against its ally-turned-foe.

However, the contest is likely to be a difficult one for the LDF as Premachandran, a formidable leader, is known to have a wide voter base.

The general elections will be held across India in seven phases beginning April 11 and the counting of votes will take place on May 23.

Here’s all you need to know about the Kollam Lok Sabha constituency:

State: Kerala

Name of the Lok Sabha constituency: Kollam

Contesting Candidates: K.N.Balagopal (CPI-M), K.V.Sabu (BJP), N.K.Premachandran (RSP)

Date of Polling: April 23

Polling Date: April 23 (Phase 3)

Sitting MP, Party: NK Premachandran, RSP

Winning margin in 2014: 37,649

Runner up name, party: MA Baby, CPI(M)

Number of voters in 2014: 879,228

Percentage of votes polled in 2014: 72

Number of polling booths in 2014: 1,119

Number of women voters: 470,734

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