As the sun dips below the horizon, the sky above Neerkunnam, a sleepy coastal village in the Alappuzha Lok Sabha constituency, with patchy clouds is bathed in golden hues. A cricket match on a vacant beachfront abruptly ends as youngsters rush towards the road, drawn by the blaring pronouncements of ‘darling of Alappuzha’ and ‘leader with a development vision’ from Left Democratic Front (LDF) candidate A.M. Ariff’s convoy.
Firecrackers erupt as the candidate, atop a Communist Party of India(Marxist)-emblazoned open vehicle, arrives. A slightly weary Mr. Ariff, after a day of campaigning under the sun, dismounts to a decent crowd, some sporting his printed T-shirts.
He waves and shakes hands with the people and heads straight to a makeshift stage where a microphone is handed over to him. “I first want to thank all those who voted for me in 2019, which helped the LDF to retake the Alappuzha Parliament constituency from the United Democratic Front (UDF). In the last five years, I strived to bring development to Alappuzha and succeeded in it. I raised the issues of the fisher community in the Parliament several times. To continue the development works and to preserve the secular fabric of the society, people should give me and the LDF a second term,” he says in the short speech.
While Mr. Ariff aims to retain Alappuzha, the UDF is all out to regain the seat, the only one it lost in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in Kerala. All India Congress Committee general secretary (organisation) and UDF candidate K.C. Venugopal, MP who represented Alappuzha in the Lower House twice from 2009 to 2019 is busy electioneering on the other side of the constituency. He is meeting employees of the Tharamoodu Coir Cooperative Society near Cherthala. The workers raised the issue of meagre wages and lack of regular work. After hearing them patiently, Mr. Venugopal assures them all help. “If the Congress-led Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance comes to power at the Centre, the issues of employees in coir and other sectors will be prioritised,” he says.
The Congress leader enjoyed lunch with the coir workers before heading to the next campaign stop. Earlier, the UDF workers welcomed Mr. Venugopal with fireworks, loud cheers and slogans during a roadshow and receptions in the Cherthala Assembly constituency.
At Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) State Committee member C. Madhusoodhanan’s house at Nalukulangara near Cherthala, a small crowd, including women and children, has turned up after receiving information that National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate Shoba Surendran of the BJP will be visiting there for lunch. Ms. Shobha turns up a bit late and seeks the blessings of elderly people. After exchanging pleasantries with the people, she exudes confidence that the “people of Alappuzha will elect me as they are fed up with the LDF and the UDF”.
“There are reasons for you to vote for me. The NDA government materialised the multi-crore super-speciality block at Government Medical College Hospital, Alappuzha. It is developing the National Highway and has undertaken several developmental initiatives. Still, a lot needs to be done such as cleaning Vembanad Lake and addressing problems in the fisheries and paddy sectors. If you elect me, I will find solutions to problems in a timebound manner,” says Ms. Surendran before heading to the dining table.
