Kerala - Kollam   

Poll campaign hots up in Kollam district

Staff Reporter

KOLLAM : Kollam is in the grip of election fever with a host of State-level leaders, including Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, KPCC president Ramesh Chennithala, the Leader of the Opposition V.S. Achuthanandan, CPI(M) State secretary Pinarayi Vijayan and CPI State secretary Veliyam Bhargavan, flagging off a series of election campaigns in the district.

There is no voter apathy towards election campaign meetings this time around, unlike earlier when the election scenario hotted up only 40 hours before the polling day.

Political analysts say the keen interest shown by voters is a positive sign.

It can mean that the voter turnout will be higher this time. It also means that the voters are yet to take a final decision on who is entitled to their vote. They are seriously engaged in the decision-making process., say analysts

The fact is that large sections of voters are not seen to be apathetic to political speeches and election campaigns.

Voters appear to be eager to know about the political situation. Hence, no political side can claim a wave in their favour at least in Kollam district.

The candidate personality factor has also contributed to the voter interest in the elections.

Some of the interesting constituencies in this connection are Chavara where N.K. Premachandran (LDF) is piited against Shibu Baby John (UDF), Kollam where Babu Divakaran (UDF) takes on P.K. Gurudasan (LDF), Kottarakara where R. Balakrishna Pillai (UDF) is contesting against Aisha Potti (LDF), Punalur where M.V. Raghavan (UDF) is facing K. Raju (LDF), Chathannur where Pratapavarma Thampan (UDF) is facing N. Anirudhan (LDF) and Kundara where M.A. Baby (LDF) is contesting against Kadavoor Sivadasan (UDF).

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