Can Congress wrest Attingal from CPI(M)?

Attingal, once a winning ground of Congress and which later became a formidable CPI(M) bastion, is all set to witness a blazing battle between CPI(M)'s sitting MP A Sampath and Mahila Congress state president Bindhu Krishna in the April 10 Lok Sabha polls.
Sampath's experience as two-time MP and his achievements
in the development front and Krishna's fierce campaign and vibrancy will make the competition tough in this seat, which came into being in 2008 after delimitation of constituencies.
The constituency, which covers a major chunk of Thiruvananthapuram district, was Chirayinkeezh constituency till 2008.
Though it had a history of favouring both rival fronts in

the early decades, CPI(M) has won here in all six Lok Sabha polls since 1991.

The two-decade-long Congress dominance in the constituency ended in 1991 after CPI(M)'s Susheela Gopalan, widow of veteran leader A K Gopalan, popularly known as AKG, seized the seat from Thalekkunnil Basheer by a margin of 1106 votes.
Since then, Attingal has remained as a bastion of CPI(M)
and sent its candidates to Lok Sabha without any second thought.
Veteran CPI(M) leader Varkala Radhakrishnan set a hat trick victory by winning continuously from here in the 1998, 1999 and 2004 Lok Sabha polls.
The development issues, especially of infrastructure, is

the major debating point of both the Fronts.
The association of Sampath, son of CPI(M) veteran K Anirudhan, with the constituency began with his victory here in the 1996 Lok Sabha polls, defeating Congress's Thalekkunnil Basheer.