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Parties make last pitch with rallies and roadshows in Kerala
The final day of campaigning was marked by Union home minister Amit Shah’s visit to Alappuzha in support of BJP candidate Sobha Surendran
Public campaigning in all the 20 seats of Kerala for the Lok Sabha polls came to an end on Wednesday with the ‘kalashakottu’ (final beat), a show of strength by all parties converging at major town centres with balloons, flags and loud music. The state will vote in the second phase of polls on April 26.
In Thiruvananthapuram, rivals Shashi Tharoor of Congress and Rajeev Chandrasekhar of BJP were lifted several metres above the ground in cranes as part of the ‘kalashakottu’ as party workers celebrated the end of campaigning.
As part of Left Democratic Front, Communist Party of India (Marxist) is contesting on 15 seats, Communist Party of India in four and Kerala Congress (Mani) in one seat. Among United Democratic Front , Congress is fighting in 16 seats, Indian Union Muslim League in two, KC (Joseph) in one and Revolutionary Socialist Party in one. Among National Democratic Alliance, Bharatiya Janata Party is contesting in 16 seats and Bharath Dharma Jana Sena in four seats.
The prominent candidates from UDF include Rahul Gandhi (Wayanad), Shashi Tharoor (Thiruvananthapuram), Shafi Parambil (Vatakara), K Sudhakaran (Kannur), KC Venugopal (Alappuzha). Among BJP, Rajeev Chandrasekhar (Thiruvananthapuram), V Muraleedharan (Attingal). K Surendran (Wayanad) and Sobha Surendran (Alappuzha) are leading candidates. Among LDF, Thomas Isaac (Pathanamthitta), KK Shailaja (Vatakara) and Annie Raja (Wayanad) are the ones to watch out for.
The final day of campaigning was marked by Union home minister Amit Shah’s visit to Alappuzha in support of BJP candidate Sobha Surendran. PM Modi visited the state a few times during which he addressed rallies in Alathur, Attingal, Pathanamthitta and held roadshows in Thrissur, Palakkad and Kochi. Rahul Gandhi, who is contesting from Wayanad, held public meetings in Kozhikode, Kannur and Kottayam while his rallies in Thrissur and Alappuzha were cancelled due to health issues. Priyanka Gandhi addressed a roadshow in Thiruvananthapuram for Shashi Tharoor.
A total of 27.7 million voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in Kerala, with 6,49,000 voters being added to the list since January this year. There are 13.4 million male voters, 14.3 million female voters and 367 in the transgender category.
There are 25,231 polling stations across the state, of which 742 have been termed ‘vulnerable’ and 1,161 in the critical category. At least 62 companies of the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) personnel have been deployed in the state.
