The Hindu : Kerala / Kochi News : Candidates make last-ditch bid

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, May 10, 2004

Kerala

Kerala - Kochi

Candidates make last-ditch bid

By Our Special Correspondent

KOCHI, MAY 9 . On the eve of the D-Day, candidates in the Ernakulam constituency took it a little easy and found a little breathing space for themselves as the campaign had formally closed on Saturday.

Certain that voters in Ernakulam had made up their minds, the LDF candidate, Sebastian Paul, and the UDF candidate, Edward Edezhath, found time to attend to their personal needs. However, since the polling was just a few hours away, they could not stay at home and went out to meet the social obligations of the candidate — like attending weddings and paying tributes to the dead. In the process, they also made use of one-to-one chance meetings with voters. It was a low-key campaign in the guise of attending weddings and funerals for the candidates.

Mr. Paul attended three funeral ceremonies on Sunday. And also paid a visit to the General Hospital here where the bodies of the five men who had died in a car-lorry crash at Kundannoor in the city on Saturday were kept. He also attended a wedding at the Infant Jesus Church where he ran into his main rival, Mr. Edezhath. He called up a number of voters on the phone to make a final personal request and contacted several friends to make sure that they showed up at the polling booth tomorrow.

Mr. Paul will cast his vote at the booth in the St. Augustine School near Lisie Hospital at around 7 a.m. Then he would tour the constituency along with LDF activists and call at select booths.

Mr. Edezhath started his day-before-the-D-Day with Sunday prayers at the Vallarpadom church. He interacted with dozens of people who had turned up for the mass and sought their help to send him to the Lok Sabha. Then it was the turn of funeral visits and calling at the General Hospital. He went to Paravur to pay his last respects to a cooperative bank employee. He also visited the families of the railway employees at the railway quarters in the city. He also made a series of visits to the homes of friends and acquaintances at Aluva and also in the city.

Mr. Edezhath will cast his vote at 7-30 a.m. on Monday morning at the SRV High School in the city.

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