The sun is beating down on a small crowd patiently awaiting Vadakara MLA and United Democratic Front (UDF)-backed Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP) candidate K.K. Rema at Meppattumukku, Adiyur, in Eramala. Party activists are busy distributing watermelon juice in small paper cups to quench their thirst. Flags of the Congress, Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), and the RMP are tied on nearby poles and lamp posts.
With a huge flex board seeking votes for Ms. Rema in his background, K. Deepraj, an RMP activist, is addressing the crowd. From the Sabarimala gold theft case to the alleged “system failure” in the Health department, he highlights the “lapses” of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in the State.
Meanwhile, K. Dileep, candidate of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) passes by in an open vehicle greeting the crowd. As Mr. Deepraj continues his speech, an announcement comes that Ms. Rema will soon reach the spot.
Clad in a white spotless kurta and wearing a tricolour shawl, the Vadakara MLA waves to the local residents and shakes hands with the old and the young alike. Starting her speech with an apology for the delay in arrival, Ms. Rema says the support she has been receiving from the people during the campaign is an indication of a change of government in the State.
“We will continue the ongoing development works with more vigour if you elect a UDF government,” she says. Ms. Rema claims that she has tried to bring in projects in both rural and urban areas and mentions the floodlit stadium in the constituency as an example of her efforts to boost the sports sector.
‘Vote for change’
Around a kilometre away, Mr. Dileep is talking to the voters in a street corner meeting. He is unsparing in his criticism of the State government and the incumbent MLA. “Whatever development the constituency has seen in recent years is because of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. See the renovation of the Vadakara railway station, the new building for the government district hospital, piped water connections under the Jal Jeevan Mission etc.,” Mr. Dileep says. He requests the people to vote for the NDA to bring about a change.
Meanwhile, in another part of the constituency, LDF candidate M.K. Bhaskaran, senior leader of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), is visiting voters in the midst of a wedding event at an auditorium at Vallikkad near Orkkatteri. RMP founder and Ms. Rema’s husband T.P. Chandrasekharan was hacked to death in 2012 a few kilometres from there. “There is a positive atmosphere for us this time. Look at the MLA’s performance in the past five years. Compared with the Assembly constituencies surrounding Vadakara, there is a development deficit here,” he says.
LDF workers accompanying him point out that a section of the pro-Left votes had consolidated in favour of Ms. Rema in the previous election. “It will not happen this time. We will get all our votes,” they say. Chandrasekharan’s murder and the alleged role of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] in the incident is no longer an election issue, the LDF activists claim.
With Ms. Rema eyeing a second term in office and the LDF planning to recapture the seat, it remains to be seen what the electoral verdict will be.
