Battle of the Bastions: Antony Vs Antony faceoff in Kerala's Pathanamthitta

Sabarimala Temple, Erumeli Mosque, Parumala Church— Kerala's Pathanamthitta Lok Sabha constituency is home to some of India's most revered shrines from across the faiths. It's thesereligious landmarks that forced advertising iconWalter Mendez to come up with 'God's own country' catchphrase for Kerala Tourism in 1989.

While Pathanamthitta's landmarks of faith have remained unchanged for several centuries, in recent years, it's the political landmarks of this constituency that have undergone a significant change. The constituency has been a bastion of Congress-led alliances since its formation in 2008. But in Bharatiya Janata Party's growing presence in Kerala's Travancore region, Pathanamthitta has remained its key electoral focus.

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BJP's vote share in Pathanamthitta since 2009 Lok Sabha elections | WION

Congress leader Anto Antony is seeking re-election from Pathanamthitta for a fourth term in a row.In an interesting Antony Vs. Antony electoral battle, Anto Antony is up against the BJP's Anil Antony, son of former Indian defence minister and Congress party veteranAK Antony.

Anto Antony is the candidate for Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) from Pathanamthitta | X/@antoantonyinc

Speaking to WION, Anil Antony saidthat Pathanamthitta has the potential to become a key religious-cultural centre in Kerala. But "due to underdevelopment and lack of infrastructure, the place is not reaching its potential."

"The Congress MP has not delivered development in the last 15 years," Anil said.

A number of BJP functionaries say that Pathanamthitta features on top of the list of seats that BJP hopes to win in Kerala this time, and Anil Antony agrees with the assessment.

"Last time Pathanamthitta was one of the seats where we had the highest vote share in Kerala," Anil said.

Referring to the BJP's campaign overdrive in the constituency, Antony expressed confidence that his "blueprint" for the constituency's development has been able to convince the electorate to vote for him.

"More and more people are showing the support to me and my party, who traditionally had been the supporters of other parties. I am expecting a significant win for the party in Pathanamthitta. This time when we win more than 370 seats for the party and 400 seats for the alliance, I am very much sure that one of them is going to be this constituency," he said.

But a lot of the BJP's electioneering in Pathanamthitta has to do with the way the party has attempted to appeal to the constituency's Christian electorate.

Christian and Nair communities, combined, form nearly half of the constituency's population.

TheBJP had already made inroads into the Nair communitywith the tacit support of key community welfare organisationNair Service Society. It needs to be seen if the rest of the Hindu communities and Muslim votes — which when combined addup to theremaining half — along with non-committed Christians and Nairs would derail the BJP's hopes.

Pathanamthitta is scheduled to vote on April 26. The counting of votes will begin on June 4, 2024.