THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: "We have a solid lead, right? Can I put my Facebook post now?" "Wait, let it be official!" This is how a conversation took place between two BJP counting agents in the counting room of Nemom constituency's St John's Model HSS; even when things became certain, all parties were vigilant about what to do and what not to do.
The tension was palpable in the room, even when BJP's Rajeev Chandrasekhar was leading in almost every round of counting. The possibility of one of the three major fronts unexpectedly taking the lead remained active at the booth levels, while an overall lead was always favoured by Rajeev. But nonetheless, the light moments between people from different parties were seen even when their candidates and ideologies fought an intense ballot war one fence away.
The unsung heroes of political parties- the ground-level workers were tirelessly working, counting every vote they gained, tallying it with the expected figures from their booth levels, and adding it to their total figures. Internal evaluation at the booth level began there itself, as efforts to analyse who tapped into the vote bank of whom, which community might have possibly voted for a party, etc, all of which reaches the top leadership before each party gives an explanation for their win or loss. Beyond the tensions of their constituency, they had the curiosity to know what the trend is throughout the state. Even though the Election Commission's norms barred counting agents from carrying mobile phones into the centres, the shift-based adjustment between different individuals helped to get an idea of the overall election picture.
While the UDF camp had little to no hope as soon as the counting entered the 10th round in Nemom, they were interested to find a balance with their thumping victory at the state level. "We didn't get as many votes as we expected. Even though we got a few minority votes, Sivankutty gained a higher share of these votes, which came as an unexpected blow over our head," a Congress counting agent said. However, CPM agents remained hopeful in the last lap. The party's analysis of how the trend will proceed remained spot on-- while the left party made considerable leaps in the expected stronghold areas, the big difference the BJP made in their key areas resulted in the saffron party's win, said an LDF counting agent.