KANNIYAKUMARI: The two-kilometre stretch of the road connecting Kaliyakkavilai and Padanthalumoodu in Kanniyakumari district, for the past few weeks, has been a hive of political activity. Campaign vehicles blare political messages, posters take up the compound wall spaces, and candidates of political parties meet voters at their residences.
However, the residents on one side of the road, where the campaign posters and lottery stores are a no-show, seem oblivious to the busy poll activities.
The road falls right on the Tamil Nadu-Kerala border, with the north side of the road under TN limits and the south under the limits of the neighbouring state, which is going for the polls weeks earlier than the other.
There are a few such zones across Kanniyakumari district, where the borderlines are sinuous, and election activities are seemingly both existing and not at the same time.
While the campaigning for Kerala Assembly elections is set to conclude on Tuesday (April 7), the same for Tamil Nadu is yet to get into full swing, with the last date for nomination filing having ended only on Monday. In the Kanniyakumari district, Vilavancode and Killiyoor Assembly constituencies share a border with Kerala, with Kaliyakkavilai located along the border on the Nagercoil-Thiruvanathanpuram national highway.
As the campaigning was drawing to a close in Kerala, poll campaign vehicles with Kerala registrations were plying up and down the two-kilometre stretch of road in Kaliyakkavilai. M Asokan, who is residing on the north side of the road — under TN limits — said the campaign for Kerala elections reached a high on Monday.
B Sathir, from Market Road in Kaliyakkavilai, whose house is located next to the boundary line, said Kerala political party functionaries, who were canvassing for votes in his neighbour’s house, mistakenly visited his, seeking support for the party. “At the same time, none contesting from the Vilavancode Assembly constituency in Tamil Nadu has held a campaign here till now,” he added.
In Kollenkode, which falls under the Killiyoor Assembly constituency, the reality is the same. B Ganesan, who resides near the border check-post, said the campaigning for the Kerala elections in the region was moving at a brisk pace. “It may take a few days for the election campaigning to get intense in the Tamil Nadu areas near the border,” he said. However, one or two campaign vehicles of TN political parties were spotted in a few areas.