As electioneering in Puthuppally enters the final lap, the mercury level on the ground has caught up with the day-time heat with the party cadres scrambling through every nuke and cranny of the constituency.
Electioneering on Thursday centred around the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) Yogam units as the candidates attended the Chatayam day celebrations organised at various locations within the constituency. In consideration of the significant presence of the Ezhava community here, the parties also gave a break to the high-octane campaign for the day and resorted to personal canvassing.
Earlier in the day, Kerala Congress chairman P.J. Joseph led the United Democratic Front’s campaign at Manarcaud Junction. With just a few more days left for the election, the Congress will be bringing a handful of top leaders including A.K. Antony and Shashi Tharoor to lead the campaign. While Mr. Antony is slated to address a couple of election conventions on September 1 and 2, Mr. Tharoor will be attending a handful of family meets and road shows.
In response to the Left Democratic Front’s development discourse on Puthuppally, debates and presentations on the UDF’s vision of development too are being staged across the constituency. The LDF candidate Jaick C. Thomas too focussed his campaign primarily around the Chatayam-day celebrations at different locations. Waging high stakes, he raced against time to visit as many areas as possible, braving the hot sun.
Cheif Minister Pinarayi Vijayan , who has invested heavily in the three-week-long campaign here, is slated to address three more election conventions here on Friday. A handful of Ministers including M.B. Rajesh and Roshy Augustine will reach Puthuppally in the coming days, besides an array of senior CPI(M) leaders. Giving a final push to electioneering, the coalition is also organising an array of family meets and corner meetings.
National level BJP leaders are slated to undertake tours across the constituency and join the door-to-door campaigning of the National Democratic Alliance candidate G. Lijin Lal. Rounding off its campaign will be Union Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan and Alphons K.J., besides BJP national spokespersons Tom Vadakkan and Anil Antony. Prakash Javadekar, BJP leader in charge of Kerala, too is expected to campaign in the coming days.
