With just seven days left for campaigning to end and public holidays from Thursday due to the Easter weekend, sparks are expected to fly as the three major fronts in Kerala vent their fury against each other during the available window for ‘free-for-all’ on the first three days of the week starting Monday.
National leaders of the BJP-NDA, the Congress and the Left Front are scheduled to arrive on a whirlwind tour of the state given that the latter part of the week comprising the Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday are solemn days of reverence for Christians who make 18.38 per cent of the population.
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Jam-packed scheduled for bigwigs
Given this, the Kerala has a jam-packed week of campaigning featuring top leaders of the three main political coalition including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP National President JP Nadda (all on second leg), Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath (returns after he flagged off the NDA’s Vijaya Yatra), and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shiv Raj Singh Chauhan.
The Prime Minister will address election rallies on Tuesday in Palakkad (NDA candidate being Metroman E Sreedharan) and in Konni (party State President K Surendran) and on Friday Thiruvananthapuram (Kummanam Rajasekharan in nearby Nemom). The BJP-NDA is confident of its prospects in all these seats.
Cong, CPI(M) leaders take cue
The outgoing government of the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) will persist with CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, Prakash Karat and Brinda Karat, who all are currently camping in the state. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, its sole mass leader, will continue campaigning until Tuesday.
A meeting of the State Secretariat of the party here on Friday is reported to have assessed that the LDF has enough going in its favour to retain power in what would be a rare second term in Kerala which it has ruled by turn with the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) most of the time.
Different voices on Sabarimala
This is despite the party apparently speaking in many voices on the Sabarimala issue with the outgoing Temple Administration Minister Kadakampalli Surendran, who expressed regrets for the unsavoury developments at the hill shrine a couple of years ago, finding himself increasingly silenced.
Congress leader Priyanka Vadra will speak at meetings in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam and Thrissur district on Tuesday and Wednesday while Rahul Gandhi will return to the state and address rallies in Wayanad and Kozhikode on Saturday and Sunday. Rahul has completed two rounds in the state already.