The voters of Puthuppally will be heading for the polling booths on Tuesday to cast their votes in a byelection that has assumed Statewide significance.
The constituency where elections used to be a simple, straight fight between Oommen Chandy and his opponents is now witnessing a race primarily between two youngsters — 37-year-old Chandy Oommen and 33-year-old Jaick C. Thomas. And it goes without saying that the campaign this time around was vigorous with the major contenders stepping up political heat against one another towards the fag end, also bringing in a fair share of controversies.
While this charged atmosphere looked set to sustain till the last minute, Monday, the day before the polling day, was relatively calm with the coalitions busy reviewing their preparedness and candidates undertaking whirlwind tours across the constituency.
Chandy Oommen, the United Democratic Front (UDF) candidate, began the day by offering prayers at the tomb of Kunjappan, a victim of the historic Puthuppally firing incident. On the final day, he tried to meet maximum number of voters in person across all eight panchayats in the Assembly segment.
Left Democratic Front candidate Jaick C. Thomas too spent the day to reach out to the maximum number of voters in and around Puthuppally.
G. Lijin Lal, the National Democratic Alliance candidate, met key voters and important persons in the constituency. During the day, he also attended a few functions, met various community leaders, besides visiting the front’s election booths in different locations.
The UDF counts on riding the wave of sympathy for the late Oommen Chandy and anti-incumbency against the LDF to attain a victory margin of 25,000 votes. The LDF, on the other hand, looks to buck the trend by making the most of its network at the grassroots and win by a margin between 5,000 and 10,000 votes.
The NDA, meanwhile, hopes to turn the tide in its favour on the various welfare schemes introduced by the BJP-led Union government. The NDA had brought in senior BJP leaders for the campaign and it hopes this will help draw more votes to its candidate from certain pockets.
The outcome in Puthuppally, according to observers, will also have a bearing on the poll-preparedness of the three coalitions for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission has completed all the arrangements for polling. The polling materials for 182 polling booths in the constituency have been distributed. The voting will commence at 7 a.m. and conclude at 6 p.m.
