M Swaraj Submits Nomination as LDF Candidate in Nilambur

Nilambur: M Swaraj officially submitted his nomination as the Left Democratic Front (LDF) candidate for Nilambur on Monday. The event was marked by an impressive rally that began at Veliyanthode and culminated at the Nilambur Taluk Office.
Swaraj was accompanied by CPI(M) Polit Bureau member A Vijayaraghavan, State Secretariat member P K Biju, MP P P Suneer, and thousands of enthusiastic supporters. Tahsildar M P Sindhu received the nomination papers.
Swaraj’s campaign rally commenced from Kovilakathumuri, where he was greeted by the siblings of Radha, Santha, and Bhaskaran, who adorned him with red garlands. Among them was Chirakkal Santha’s family — Santha, a former contract sweeper at the Nilambur Congress Committee office, was a victim of a brutal rape and murder.
United Democratic Front (UDF) candidate Aryadan Shoukath, along with three other candidates, had submitted their nominations earlier.
Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fielded a candidate from the Kerala Congress (Joseph) — a state committee member, lawyer, and former UDF insider. The late-stage announcement is seen as a strategic move, with critics suggesting the BJP is contesting merely to maintain a presence at the national level.
CPI(M) State Secretary M V Govindan described the electoral challenge in Nilambur as a fight against a “rainbow coalition,” claiming that the BJP, Congress, and SDPI are forming informal alliances with the sole aim of defeating the CPI(M). He criticized their lack of ideological coherence and described the BJP’s reliance on a “borrowed candidate” as evidence of a weak political footing in the constituency.