Thiruvananthapuram: After weeks of stormy campaign sessions, marathon rallies and giant performances, Kerala is poised to go to the polls on Tuesday with 2.74 crore voters exercising their franchise to determine the fate of 957 candidates, including senior leaders and independents in 140 constituencies for the meeting. across the state.
According to Election Commission figures, the total number of voters in the state is 1,32,83,724 male voters, 1,41,62,025 female voters and 290 transgender people.
As the high-octane public campaign came to an end last night, the southern state is now witnessing silent election parties in which candidates and party workers are visiting homes and institutions at the last minute to get votes.
A variety of ministers and several sitting MLAs from both the traditional coalitions – the CPI (M) -leaded Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) want to seek another term in the April 6 polls .
Prime Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Health Minister KK Shailaja, Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran, Power Minister MM Mani and Higher Education Minister KK Jaleel are among the leading personalities seeking their governing election luck.
Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala, former prime minister Oommen Chandy, senior leaders K Muraleedharan, PT Thomas and Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan are among those disputed by the UDF group.
The election is crucial for a range of BJP leaders, including former Mizoram Governor Kummam Rajasekharan, ‘Metroman’ E Sreedharan, who recently joined the saffron party, State President K Surendran, senior leader Shobha Surendran members, Rajya Sabha members Suresh Gopi and KJ Alphons and others. .
The survey on April 6 is equally important for the head of the Kerala Congress (M), Jose K Mani, who recently severed decades of ties with the UDF and joined hands with the left front.
It would be a litmus test, especially for Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, as he camped in the state for a few days and took part in dozens of corner meetings and marches in Kerala to fight for the UDF.
The ruling LDF hopes to retain power for a second consecutive term, breaking the state’s four-decade-old tendency to switch between the UDF every five years.
While the UDF is confident of forming their government when the results appear on May 2, the BJP-led NDA leaves no stone unturned to get the maximum number of seats to become a decisive force in the government’s government.
Since the India Electoral Commission (ECI) announced the dates on February 26, Kerala has witnessed unprecedented competitive spirit between all three political fronts – from conducting the maximum number of rallies and meetings to gaining all possible national leaders around the electorate. .
In place of one or two leading national figures, the state this time saw multiple visits by leaders, only from Interior Minister Narendra Modi, Home Affairs Minister Amit Shah and a dozen of their cabinet colleagues, including Nirmala Sitharaman, Rajnath Singh and Prahlad Joshi and UP Prime Minister Yogi Adityanath to Congress Leaders Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Sachin Pilot, AK Antony, Salman Khurshid and so on.
The release of the election manifesto also attracted a lot of attention this time around when the three fronts came out with populist promises, including pensions for housewives, raising welfare pensions, free gas cylinders for the poor, free laptops for economically disadvantaged students, and so on.
To consolidate the votes of the majority community and keep devotees with them, the BJP even promised in their manifesto a law to contain alleged ‘love jihad’ and even a state law to protect the customs and traditions of the Sabarimala temple .
The topics of faith, religion, development and welfare took center stage during the campaigns.
The state testified how the ruling LDF has worked hard to focus the debate on the ballot box on the government’s achievements in the development and welfare fronts over the past five years, and this has been much celebrated. COVID-19 and flood management.
But the Congress-UDF and BJP-NDA tried their best to make a topic of discussion on the Sabarimala women’s admission issue and the controversial issues over gold and dollar smuggling, in which the office of the Prime Minister, Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan and a few others ministers. allegations.
The LDF, which during the campaign presented itself as the sole savior of minority communities, especially in the Muslim-dominated districts of Malabar (North Kerala), calculated that their votes would be consolidated in their favor.
They also accused Congress of adopting a soft stance on the Hindutva agenda to get a hole in their ballot box.
Congress has been seen reaching out to prominent figures and institutions associated with Hindu, Christian and Muslim religions to secure their support.
Apart from the fact that the majority of the community votes were committed by promising a law to control ‘love jihad’ and protect the tradition of Sabarimala, the BJP also tried to reach out to the Christian community during the campaign.
Many national and state leaders of the saffron party could be seen during the period that the cardinal, bishops and church leaders met.
Since the 1980s, the LDF and UDF have alternately formed the government that has been unable to achieve rugby victories in Kerala.
If the ruling front can pass the trend in the state this time, it will be history.
Source: Telangana Today