Politics

Payyanur has an important place in the country’s political history. Payyanur played a remarkable role in the freedom struggle. Uppu Satyagraha of 1930, Quit India Movement, Hindi and Khadi Propagation are some of the activities that brought Payyanur to the national attention. Because of its immense contribution to the Independence Movement, Payyanur was called as "Second Bardoli".  The KPCC conference of 1928 held at Payyanur, presided by Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, opened a new chapter in the history of the Independence movement. This conference in which Congress announced that its ultimate aim is nothing but complete freedom, is considered as a landmark in the history of the country. The sincere efforts of Swami Anantha Theertha against social evils like untouchability and for the uplift of the backward classes also deserve special mentioning.

Along with the freedom struggle, the communist movement also received warm reception in Payyanur. The Communist Movement was active right from its formation in Payyanur. Leader like P. Krishnapillai and AKG used to visit here for campaigning. P. Krishnapillai was the volunteer captain of the great Uppu Satyagraha of Payyanur. The incident of brutal assault on A.K.G while leading a procession to gain the right to use the public road in front of Kandoth Koormba Temple for all the communities including Harijans started a new era in Payyanur's social and political life.

Payyanur and the nearby villages witnessed a lot of struggles against the feudal rule. The great peasants’ struggle of Karivellur and Korom became turning points in the history of Payyanur as well as of Kerala. Many people sacrificed their lives and many were injured seriously during their fight against the feudal rulers and their anti-people policies. These peasant movements paved the foundation of the communist party in this part of the country.

Payyanur is one of the 140 Assembly Constituencies of Kerala. Payyanur is part of the Kasargode Parliament Constituency.  From the very beginning itself, Payyanur remained the strong hold of Communist Party. Payyanur always selected Communist nominees as their representative to the Kerala Legislative Assembly.  The very first Chief Minister of Kerala, EMS Namboothiripad was elected from Nileshwaram constituency and Payyanur was a part of that.  N. Subrahmanya Shenoy, late C.P. Narayanan, Pinarayi Vijayan-the state secretary of CPI-M and M.V. Raghavan- General Secretary of CMP are among the Communist leaders who represented Payyanur in the Assembly. Presently PK Sreemathi Teacher represents Payyanur in the Kerala Assembly.

Almost all political parties of Kerala have their units functioning at Payyanur and there are a lot of state level leaders from this small town. Some among them are:

T.Govindan – who represents Kasargode constituency in the Indian Parliament and also state committee member of CPI-M

KP Kunhikannan - the general secretary of KPCC and a member of the Kerala State Electricity Board.

MK Raghavan- the general secretary of the KPCC and vice president of the Kerala State Co-operative Bank.

Kadannappally Ramachandran- state president of Congress-S

PK. Sreemathi Teacher- MLA of Payyanur and the secretary of the Janadhipatya Mahila Association- the women’s wing of CPI-M

KC Venugopal- former president of Youth Congress Kerala state committee and presently MLA of Aalapuzha constituency

P. Balan Master-CMP state executive committee member and director of Pariyaram Medical College

PP. Karunakaran Master - regional president of BJP

CKP. Padmanabhan- state committee member of CPI-M and president of Kerala Karshaka Sangham ·     

TV. Rajesh- secretary of SFI Kerala state committee

1982