Kerala - Kochi   

Holidays may cast a negative vote

KOCHI: The holiday mood prevailing among the electorate is set to lend a new dimension to the election scenario in the State. The phenomenon is capable of impacting the polling percentage.

For most institutions in the government and quasi-government sectors, the holidays commenced with Maundy Thursday. Good Friday and second Saturday have followed in quick succession. It is Easter on Sunday.

Though Monday will be a working day, it is again a holiday on Tuesday on account of Vishu. The election day falling on Thursday will be a holiday once again.

The eight-day period, with only two working days in between, is being utilised by several people as an occasion for merrymaking, away from the compulsions of official life. In fact, the two-month period commencing from the first week of April is generally a time for holidays for most families in Kerala. It is midsummer vacation for the school children who yearn for an outing, but many Keralites who retain a strong family bond, prefer to visit their relatives. It is amidst this scenario that the holiday period has dawned.

Several residential colonies have started wearing a thin look.

The buzz of the high density traffic on the roads of Kochi has vanished while the demand for tourist vehicles is on the upswing with people trying to execute a holiday plan.

Vivekanandan, a senior official of a public sector bank, says, “Any occasion is a time for enjoying a holiday. Who would like to waste the opportunity?” He, along with his family, has left the city to his ancestral home in Palakkad. The family will be back only after the election day.

There are scores of families like that of Mr. Vivekanandan who would be away from their places of residence thanks to a string of holidays coming just before the general elections.

In fact, two political parties had suggested postponement of elections in Kerala in view of the Easter and Vishu holidays though the idea failed to have a consensus.

“I won’t mind casting my vote if I am able to return by April 16,” says Jagdeesh, an executive of a private company, who is on a holiday with his wife and daughter. He will be on a pilgrimage tour in Kerala during the next few days and has not set the schedule for the return before April 16.

Will the trend be disturbing to the prospects of the candidates?

“We are following up the list of people who are on vacation and are in the process of alerting our partymen at the respective places to ensure the return of the voters,” said a CPI(M) activist engaged in poll campaign work. But not all parties are able to keep a close watch on the individual voter.

The result could be anyone’s guess. Of course, one will have to wait to have an answer to the question whether the holiday will cast a spell on the voting pattern.

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