Major coalitions in Kerala changed gear to focus on a relatively subdued door-to-door campaign after open electioneering came to a close at 7 p.m. on Sunday. Candidates in 140 Assembly constituencies prepared to make their final pitch to voters on the day of the silent campaigning on Monday.
They would make last-minute house calls as their campaigns race to conclude an exhausting electioneering season that unfolded at the peak of an unseasonably harsh summer. Most candidates believe that turning up at doorsteps to seek votes would ensure a higher supporter turn out and offer them a better shot at victory.
The Congress, BJP and CPI(M) have mobilised armies of political workers to distribute election slips and campaign pamphlets at the booth level over the next 24 hours. The ruling LDF is fighting for continuity of governance. The UDF wants to show the government the door on nepotism and corruption charges.
The BJP hoped to capitalise on Sabarimala and ‘love jihad’ as a springboard for improving its electoral prospects in Kerala. The three fronts have exuded the confidence of a good showing. However, none seemed to have a clear bellwether of Kerala's Assembly voting behaviour given the myriad local and national issues at stake.
The Congress and BJP had competed to campaign for the Muslim vote by focussing on the citizenship law, National Population Register, criminalisation of ‘triple Talaq,’ cow vigilantism and emergent streak of Hindutva politics.
The BJP has focussed on Sabarimala. It believed that its stand against ‘love jihad’ and the Islamist threat had resonated among the Christian community, a crucial demographic in Central and south Kerala.
The LDF, UDF and NDA were also attempting to make sense of last-minute shifts in a voting pattern influenced by caste, communal, gender and age preferences. Most parties feared the spectre of cross-voting. They have accused each other of striking secret alliances to trade votes.
