A small group of people, comprising mainly women, is seen listening to a speech by a local politician who is extolling the virtues of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government under a makeshift pandal at Kanarankandimukku near Punchiri Mill in Chorod grama panchayat around noon on Wednesday. Some others are waiting on the fringes of an adjacent road for the LDF candidate from Vadakara Assembly seat, Manayath Chandran.
As the local leader winds up his speech and announces the arrival of Mr. Chandran in a campaign vehicle accompanied by a band troupe, crackers are burst. The Loktantrik Janata Dal leader’s words sound like a continuation of the local leader’s speech as he goes on to list the achievements of the government, in the form of social welfare pension and development projects, and the crisis management skills of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. Finally, he reaches out to the women, requesting them to elect him to help the LDF romp back to victory.
“The United Democratic Front (UDF) candidate is trying to cash in on the sympathy of voters. None of the LDF votes will go in her favour. The main issue here is development. The majority of voters, including the minorities, are with us. We believe that the discord between the Congress and the Revolutionary Marxist Party [RMP] will help us,” Mr. Chandran tells The Hindu .
The scene at Government College, Madappally, where UDF-RMP candidate K.K. Rema is interacting with students, is completely different.
Ms. Rema, widow of slain RMP leader T.P. Chandrashekharan, has skipped a couple of meetings from her schedule and is in a hurry. “The LDF is talking a lot about social welfare schemes. They should not be seen as the benevolence of the rulers, but as people’s rights,” she says. The RMP leader claims that this election verdict would be the people’s response against political violence as well. “There is large-scale corruption. The LDF portrays itself as a champion of development. Vadakara has been represented mainly by socialist leaders in the Assembly. But most of the areas here are underdeveloped. I will get votes even from LDF supporters,” she says before rushing to the next campaign spot.
National Democratic Alliance candidate (NDA) M. Rajesh Kumar, meanwhile, is sure the people will opt for a change this time from the LDF and the UDF.
While he is serving free lunch to the bystanders and patients at the district government hospital, he says that many are talking about the development projects of the Narendra Modi government. “I am hopeful that those schemes will convert into votes in my favour. There is no secret pact with the UDF,” he adds.
Published - April 02, 2021 12:29 am IST
