Sniping, theft, political fireworks and last-minute letters to voters mark ‘silent campaigning’ on election eve

As the countdown to the Lok Sabha elections on Friday approaches like an omen, opposition alliances in Kerala spent the penultimate day sniping at each other on Thursday, indulging in irregularities in setting the election agenda and threatening voters. I made my final pitch.

The so-called silent campaign day was anything but quiet. Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president K. Sudhakaran has warned that Left Democratic Front (LDF) convenor EP Jayarajan plans to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and threatens violence from communists. He accused the government of withdrawing at the last minute out of fear of retribution, igniting political fireworks. Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)].

Sudhakaran is contesting the Lok Sabha polls from Kannur.The CPI(M)’s campaign that the KPCC chairman is the face of the Sangh Parivar in the Congress and also a secretive and anti-LDF archangel The timing of the accusations was timed to offset the “Congress-Indian Union Muslim League (IUML)-BJP (Koribi)” faction.

BJP leader and Alappuzha assembly candidate Sobha Surendran and self-styled political power broker TG Nandakumar supported Sudhakaran’s accusations in separate press conferences.

Mr Jayarajan denied the charges and said Mr Sudhakaran had “lost his mind”. He predicted that once the LS results come out, the United Democratic Front (UDF) will disband and the IUML and the Kerala Congress will go on strike independently.

Free benefits for voters

Other controversies also added to the election eve narrative. The Liberal Democratic Party and opposition parties accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of trying to woo voters in Wayanad by distributing stockpiling kits. The BJP denies the charges.

Opposition leader VD Satheesan took issue with Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinay Kumar Saxena’s tour to “induce church leaders to the BJP cause”. He petitioned the Election Commission of India (ECI).

Concerns over last-minute changes in voting behavior also weighed on candidates. The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party gave the CPI(M) a bogey for violence in a bid to chill voters, eliciting a sharp rejection from the LDF.

With the BJP entering the equation as a third force and deeply polarizing issues at stake, the election race could be dizzyingly close in a handful of battleground districts. The BJP has repeatedly raised fears of tactical opposition votes by LDF and UDF workers to hamper its chances in the state.

The protests mobilized armies of supporters to storm neighborhoods and knock on doors, perhaps a persuasive political strategy on the days of the Silent Movement.

Candidates flocked to the headquarters of influential social groups to drum up last-minute support.