Despite the blistering midday sun beating down, a small but enthusiastic crowd, including elderly women and children, has gathered at Thuruthimel near Chengannur in the Mavelikara Lok Sabha constituency (SC reserved). Some have found refuge under the shade of trees, while others chat outside a grocery store, sheltered by umbrellas.
After waiting for nearly half an hour, the blaring of political messages from loudspeakers mounted on the convoy of Left Democratic Front (LDF) candidate C.A. Arunkumar, of the Communist Party of India (CPI), grew louder as it approached Thuruthimel. Then, firecrackers burst, and in no time, the candidate, clad in a shirt and dhoti with a red-coloured scarf wrapped around his neck, arrived in a specially designed open vehicle.
