THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The battle lines have been drawn and warriors have stepped on to the arena. What one hears now are the war cries, which are sure to reach a high decibel before April 23, the day of big battle — read polling.
With the Left and United front both finalising their lists of candidates and the BJP-led NDA declaring 13 names, the campaign should be electrifying in the next few weeks.
While all three fronts are currently engaged in mudslinging, the Sabarimala fiasco still remains on the back burner after the Chief Electoral Officer had warned against seeking votes in the name of Lord Ayyappa.A slew of issues like secularism, development, unemployment and price hike are being projected, but the fronts seem to have made their calculations about religious and caste votes — one of the most decisive factors in almost all constituencies.
However, the time-tested strategy of soft Hindutva and undercurrents of alleged hidden understanding with the saffron party seem to be both fronts’ favourite. And it is the Left front which has intensified its attack on the Congress-led UDF over its soft-Hindutva approach.
“If the UDF is sincere and confident, why can’t they openly declare they don’t want RSS votes? In fact, the Congress has been treading a highly dangerous path by facilitating both the majority communalism practised by Sangh Parivar and minority communalism by the SDPI and the Jamaat-e-Islami. When a similar allegation was raised against us in 1989, EMS declared we don’t want communal votes. Will they do the same?” asked CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan.
Having begun the campaign well in advance, the Left is far more confident. In the final stage of the first phase, the LDF will begin house visits and candidates’ public functions in a couple of days. Compared to the Left, the UDF has been a bit late, but is eager to make up for the lost time.
No sooner had his candidature announced than the UDF’s Adoor Prakash was able to make his presence felt in Attingal. Similarly Shashi Tharoor began his unofficial campaign well in advance in Thiruvananthapuram. NDA’s star candidate Kummanam Rajasekharan had his graffiti all across the constituency even before his name was officially announced.
Both the UDF and BJP will have star campaigners coming to the state. The Congress is all set to bring AICC president Rahul Gandhi, senior leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, actor-turned-politicians Nagma and Khushboo. In addition, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Congress’ trump card Priyanka Gandhi are also likely to turn up.
Senior BJP leaders including Amit Shah, Nirmala Seetharaman and Prakash Javadekar are certain to campaign for the NDA which is pulling out all stops to open its account in the state which has so far eluded the combine.