As the countdown for Friday's polling for Lok Sabha election from Kerala is in full progress, candidates and party managers spent the penultimate day devising new strategies to ensure maximum votes in their kitties and to embarrass the rivals. Though the day was peaceful as no untoward incidents getting reported from anywhere in the State, the inspection wing of the Election Commission seized deadly weapons like iron rods, machetes, knives and swords from the campaign vehicle of K Radhakrishnan, the CPI(M) candidate contesting from Alathur early Thursday morning. But Radhakrishnan, a Minister in Pinarayi Vijayan's government, claimed that they were gadgets for removing the flex boards and posters which have been put up as part of campaigning.
K Muraleedharan, the Congress candidate at Thrissur said his party could organise public meetings in support of Hamas soldiers fighting against Israel. "We do not have a military of our own and whatever military is there is under the command of Prime Minister Modi. Had we been ruling India, situation would have been different," said Muraleedharan who has taken a vow that he would not allow the BJP candidates anywhere in the State to come to the third place.
Shobha Surendran, the BJP candidate at Alappuzha, made a startling disclosure on Thursday that a prominent CPI(M) leader was in touch with BJP leadership to crossover to the Hindutva party but he called off the move following death threats from the Marxists. Though she refused to divulge the name of the "leader", K Sudhakaran, the Congress candidate contesting from Kannur declared that E P Jayarajan, the LDF convenor, who is cut up with CPI(M) leadership was the one who was about to jump fence. Jayarajan was upset over the CPI(M) leadership ignoring his claims to the post of Kerala secretary and electing M V Govindan, a lower primary school drill master for the post.
Elsewhere in the State, pollsters and observers took stock of the intensity of the campaign and most of them were unanimous in their view of a UDF sweep. P Rajan, author and former senior editor of Mathrubhumi said that the Congress-led UDF has a discernible advantage.
"If the BJP manages to increase the vote share, it may help the LDF to win three or four sats. But the interesting point to note is that Kerala voters have learn to vote in a discriminate manner and that is the reason why we see a change in pattern during assembly and Lok Sabha polls in the State," said Rajan. The octogenarian poll pundit also made it clear that his assessment was based on newspaper and TV channel reports.
Kevin Peter, founder, CASA, an umbrella organization of all Christian sects in the State said there would be many surprises once the election results are declared on 4 June. "The dressing down received by K Muraleedharan from the bishop of Thrissur is a good example. The bishop was highly critical of Manmohan Singh's stance in 2006 that Muslims should get preference over the national assets. Though we Christians too are minorities, the Congress Government and the CPI(M) appease the Muslim population and this has to be condemned," said Kevin Peter. He said there is a perceived change in the attitude of Christian community towards the BJP.
The crowd that had gathered to listen to Narendra Modi and greet him whenever he visited Kerala is proof of his ever growing popularity in the State. "Those who are not members of the BJP too find hope in Modi and it is a signal of the political churning that is happening in the State," said P Sujathan, former editor. Kerala Kaumudi.
The electorate in the State believe that the BJP is likely to win at Thiruvananthapuram (Rajeev Chandrasekhar) and Thrissur (Suresh Gopi) while the party's firebrand leader Shobha Surendran at Alappuzha and Anil Antony (Pathanamthitta) likely to pull off shocks. Anti-incumbency wave against Pinarayi Vijayan is very high and voters themselves ask what is the fun in casting votes for the CPI(M). "Anyway, once they cross Kerala borders, they are friends in INDI.Alliance," said T G Mohan Das, political commentator.
Both the UDF and the LDF has a deadly electoral weapon with them- wholesale transfer of votes to each other in constituencies where the BJP has some advantage. Though the CPI(M) and Congress do not believe in Mahabharat or Lord Krishna, they go by the adage that there is nothing unfair in war and love.
