Political Kerala has started overcoming the shock of the gruesome fireworks tragedy of April 10 at Puttingal Devi temple at Paravur in Kollam district, which claimed 114 lives. Most political leaders, except some like Chief Minister Oommen Chandy who are still busy dealing with the administrative aspects relating to the accident, have returned to their constituencies for campaigning for the May 16 Assembly election.
The incident at Paravur had occurred at a time when pre-nomination electioneering had attained a feverish pitch as the three political fronts had almost completed their seat-sharing processes and finalised their candidates’ lists. With just a week remaining for the actual start of the poll process, political parties are now feeling that they have no more time to wait.
Political activity in Kerala had come to a complete freeze on April 10 after news about the early morning tragedy spread. leaders rushed to Kollam leaving their unfinished election preparations. For example, 93-year-old Opposition leader VS Achuthanandan had reached Kollam by noon travelling close to 300 KM from Malampuzha where he was campaigning.
“Political Kerala had shown a rare kind of unity in its response to the shocking incident. All works relating to the election had come to a standstill without anyone calling for it. Many politicians had left their constituencies voluntarily and rushed to Kollam. I am sure that this sense of unity and responsibility would reflect in the election also,” said a top UDF leader.
Though members of the Chandy Cabinet have returned to election work, some of them — like the Chief Minister himself, Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala, Revenue Minister Adoor Prakash and Health Minister VS Sivakumar — who have to attend to matters related to the fireworks accident, have not been able to start full-time electioneering yet.
The Chief Minister and Home Minister were in Thrissur on Friday to discuss matters related to the conduct of the famous Pooram festival which had fallen into uncertainty on April 12 after the High Court imposed a ban on high-decibel fireworks during nighttime and a Government order — withdrawn later — putting strict controls on the use of elephants for the festival.
But there are people who view Chandy’s Thrissur mission itself as part of electioneering. “I am not being a cynic when I say that the time he spent for discussions with the organisers of the Pooram was a political investment. If he gets the credit for the smooth conduct of the Pooram, that is his political reward,” said Manoharan PK, who campaigns against fireworks shows.
He said the Congress-led ruling UDF and the CPI(M)-headed lDF have already entered into a war over fixing the responsibility for the Paravur tragedy. The CPI(M) had the other day demanded the resignation of the Home Minister for the police’s failure to prevent the incident and Chandy had responded by describing it as a sign of hypocrisy and political immaturity.
Only a week remains for the start of filing nominations, the UDF is still unable to solve candidate-related problems in several seats. The ruling front is facing rebel trouble in two constituencies, Thiruvalla and Ranni, in Pathanamthitta alone. In Thiruvalla, the man behind the campaign against the official UDF candidate is senior Congress leader PJ Kurien.
However, the lDF and the BJP-led NDA, which is determined to make a huge electoral impact in the State this time, have achieved much progress in electioneering. The CPI(M) had witnessed a lot of problems in the initial stages of selection of candidates but the party seems to have overcome all such issues.