Thiruvananthapuram:, March 27 -- Communist Party of India (Marxist) legislator V Sivankutty, who is eyeing to retain the high-profile Nemom assembly constituency in the April 9 Kerala polls, faces a strong challenge from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state chief Rajeev Chandrasekhar and Congress candidate KS Sabarinadhan. In an interview with HT, the state's minister of general education and labour talks about his own contest as well as his party-led Left Democratic Front's prospects in the forthcoming polls. Edited excerpts:

Nemom is a keenly watched and high-profile constituency. Do you feel any pressure?

Not at all. After Nemom was formed post delimitation, there have been three elections in which I, as the CPI(M) candidate, won twice...