Open campaigning for the first phase of the crucial election to the three-tier local administration bodies in Kerala came to a close on Saturday. About 1.11 crore voters will exercise their franchise on Monday in the civic poll in seven of the 14 districts of the State.
According to the State Election Commission, preparations for the first-phase polling had been completed by Saturday evening. Of the over 35,000 polling booths in the State, 1,316 are considered as sensitive and 640 of them are in Kannur district, known as Kerala’s Marxist heartland.
Polling is being held in the first phase in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Idukki, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur and Kasaragod districts. As many as 31,161 candidates from 9,220 wards are seeking mandate in the first phase. The remaining seven districts will go to polls on November 5 and counting will take place on November 7.
In the two-phase poll process, elections are being held in 941 Grama Panchayats, 152 Block Panchayats, 14 District Panchayats, 86 municipalities and six city corporations. There would be no option to vote for NOTA this time.
On Saturday evening, activists of political parties and supporters of Independent candidates filled the streets at the centres of local administration areas where elections are to be held on Monday, in colourful shows of strength. The police had a tough time in controlling the crowds in several places.
Campaigning had started in a damp mood across the State due to problems in seat allocation, rebel trouble and such issues in both the Congress-led ruling UDF and the CPI(M)-headed Opposition lDF though the BJP, which sees this election as the first real step to its “opening account” in the Assembly, was relatively free of such irritants.
However, campaigning picked up especially with the lDF bringing up issues like the bar bribery scandal and anti-BJP slogans concerning beef politics, the UDF seeking votes for development and the BJP, though on the defensive over beef trouble, bringing a host of issues forward by ridiculing both the ruling and Opposition fronts.
The campaigning entered the high-voltage phase a bit late. The Opposition and the BJP went on the offensive against the ruling UDF as the Government searched for justifications for protecting Finance Minister KM Mani, whom a Vigilance court on Thursday found to be prima facie guilty of taking bribe from the State’s bar owners.