Its population may be too small to turn the tide of a national election, but at least in this town known as Little Iran, for its strict adherence to Islamic law, the opposition can claim to have secured strong support in an approaching legislative poll. In secular Azerbaijan, a predominantly Muslim former Soviet republic where religious teachings are generally reserved for holidays, weddings and funerals, Nardaran is a notable exception.
The late President Heydar Aliyev who has been virtually deified elsewere in the oil-rich republic does not have streets and squares named after him here.
The streets of this small town of less than 10,000 people are instead decorated with massages like the Islamic maxim "Better to die a red death then to live a black life," and locals have named the narrow throughways in honour of the Shiite martyr Imam Hussein.
The town itself, 20 miles (30 kilometers) from Baku, is built next to the burial place of a sister of one of the 12 imams believed by Shiites to be descendants of the prophet Mohammed.
It is a holy site for locals who believe its aura can restore their health.
While Nardaran is better-known for being staunchly religious, clashes with the authorities, which led to the death of one of the townspeople three years ago, have also transformed it into an opposition stronghold.
Thousands of villagers picketed its main square for months in 2002 demanding that the authorities provide the town with better living conditions; they continued their protest even after riot police beat and imprisoned scores of protestors.
At the time the authorities blamed the unrest on Islamist militants saying it was a plot to spread extremism and Sharia law and claimed that Iran, which borders Azerbaijan to the south, had a hand in the disturbances.
The residents deny there was any religious motive behind the clashes.
Their tradition of defiance carried over into presidential elections in 2003 when a number of local residents were jailed after protesting in the capital over the contested poll, which international observers said was marred by widespread violations.
Their resilience seems to have won them respect of sorts from the authorities.
"The police don't dare stick their nose into our town to this day," said Ramil Usupov, a village elder and a member of the Islamic Party of Azerbaijan, which draws its support base in Nardaran.
In an approaching vote that will pit the ruling party of President Ilham Aliyev, the son of Heydar Aliyev, against an amalgamation of opposition parties in parliamentary elections in November, Nardaran has made its choice clear.
"It's not that we like the opposition's ideology, but we think it's time to pour some fresh blood into the government," Usupov said.
While the Islamic party has not announced plans to field candidates in the election, Usubov said he expected Nardaran's population to vote for secular politicians from the opposition, as in 2003.
After the opening of a four-billion-dollar oil pipeline in Azerbaijan in May, "the stakes with regard to power and money are very high and so are the chances of them being defended at any price," the Council of Europe warned recently.
In the tense lead-up to November's poll, which has seen scores of opposition activists arrested around the country and police beat protesters, two major opposition forces have emerged.
The Success bloc, which unites three radical opposition parties that have called for Ukraine-style protests in the event of a rigged election; and the moderate YES bloc which advocates a "non-violent transition from a corrupt, authoritarian clanic society to a democracy."
As he laid flowers on the grave of Alihasan Agayev, the man killed during protests in Nardaran, a relative said these forces could count on his support.
"The parliament must change, if water stays to long in one place it starts to stink," the relative, who requested anonymity, said.
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