Paravur in Ernakulam district has largely remained a safe bet for the Congress. In its electoral history, the constituency stood firm with the party in 10 Assembly elections. The Communist Party of India (CPI), which held Paravur for long, had breached the Congress fort five times.
It was N. Sivan Pillai of the CPI, who won the seat in the maiden contest in 1957. He won the seat on two more occasions in 1982 and 1987 before handing down the mantle to his son the late P. Raju, who represented the constituency in 1991 and 1996.
The CPI won the seat last in 1996 when Mr. Raju defeated then young Congressman and now Kerala’s Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan by a margin of 1,116 votes. A native of Nettoor in Ernakulam, Mr. Satheesan made Paravur his base and worked hard at the grassroots level to win the voters’ hearts.
The efforts paid off as the Congress regained control over the constituency in the 2001 elections when he trounced Mr. Raju by 7,434 votes. There has been no looking back since then as he held the seat for a record five consecutive times.
Rising margin
