The Hindu : Neck-and-neck race in Thiruvalla

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Nov 30, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Kerala

Neck-and-neck race in Thiruvalla

By Radhakrishnan KuttoorBy Radhakrishnan Kuttoor

PATHANAMTHITTA Nov. 29. The UDF novice, Elizabeth Mammen of the Kerala Congress(M) and the LDF candidate, Varghese George of the Janata Dal(Secular), are locked in a close race in the Thiruvalla Assembly by-election slated for Monday.

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate, K.R. Prathapachandra Varma of the BJP, is putting up a determined fight with his systematic campaigning.

The Chief Minister, A.K. Antony's tour of the constituency during the last few days, in the last lap of the campaign, appears to have boosted the confidence of the UDF camp.

UDF camp managers are in an upbeat mood after the ``crowd response'' to the Chief Minister's eight public meetings on Thursday and Friday. The Chief Minister, who had taken a stand that the battle of the ballot in Thiruvalla was not a ``political one'', was focussing on his Government's achievements in the past 30 months in the latest election meetings.

The UDF strategy mainly centres round exploiting the voter sentiments towards the late Mammen Mathai, especially in the Upper Kuttanad belt where he had a heroic image. But in some other areas, the UDF, of course, has to confront the anti-incumbency factor.

The LDF has left no stone unturned in the neck-and-neck race, coming at a crucial juncture in State politics. Dr. George, through his systematic campaign, is out to make the election out-and-out political. The LDF, like the BJP, concentrates more on squad work and house visits.

The `I' faction in the Congress, a crucial factor in the by-poll, is engaged in a well-orchestrated campaign against the UDF candidate, for in their perception, a UDF defeat here is crucial for their political survival.

They claim that they have some 12,000 solid votes in the constituency, and point out that many `A" faction leaders have switched their loyalty to their camp.

Overplay of the communal card by both fronts, with some priests being dragged into the scene, is one noticeable feature. There are attempts by certain political quarters to drag the Orthodox-Jacobite Church row into the campaign scene, which many political observers see as a `disastrous' trend.

The UDF had a definite lead in five of the six grama panchayats and in the Thiruvalla municipality that fall in the constituency.

Nedumburam is the only panchayat that had gone the LDF way in the 2001 local body polls.

The Sangh Parivar is actively canvassing votes for the BJP candidate, who has his roots in the RSS.

The initial lull in the NDA campaign has given way to a new vigour with the RSS coming forward.

It is an open secret that Mammen Mathai had a very close association with certain BJP local leaders and cadres, leading to the `erosion' of a sizable chunk of BJP votes in his favour in previous elections.

The BJP has four councillors in the 33-member hung municipal council in Thiruvalla. The Nedumpram grama panchayat president is a BJP woman. The party has eight members in the six grama panchayats in the Assembly segment.

A victory for either fronts mainly depends on the `performance' of the BJP and the shift in Congress votes owing to the `I' factor.

The campaigning came to a close this evening.

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