Hustle and bustle ends

PIRAVOM: The public campaign for the Piravom bypoll, viewed as prestigious   for both the fronts, ended peacefully on Thursday evening. Road shows carried out by LDF, UDF and the BJP converged at various points  in the constituency to mark the end of the campaign while the candidates  were busy making final whistle-stop tours across the constituency.   The candidates and their supporters will engage in silent door-to-door campaigning during the rest of the time leading up to the election to  ensure that no votes go unpolled. The counting is on March 21. Both the rival fronts are locked in a fierce battle as the bypoll is seen to  be crucial for the ruling front. Sensing its significance, the Congress itself has taken over the reins of the campaign rather than entrusting the entire electioneering with the Kerala Congress (J). A busy Chief Minister Oommen Chandy was in the constituency for the last few days. He even embarked on a road show. The campaign also saw the entire Cabinet and the UDF leadership joining hands. In Defence Minister A K Antony’s words, “this unity has never been seen  before.” Along with Antony, Union Ministers Vayalar Ravi, K V Thomas and many others have camped in the constituency for days . The LDF also has not left any stone unturned. CPM state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan was in the constituency for more than a week, directly monitoring  the campaign. Opposition Leader V S Achuthanandan, always the star campaigner, led the show. Other stalwarts who led the Left campaign former ministers M A Baby, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, C Divakaran and Ramachandran Kadannappally.  Controversies GaloreThe last few days of the campaign also saw some controversial moments with Achuthanandan making bitter comments against former CPM and now Congress leader Sindhu Joy.  This snowballed into a controversy with the UDF and a few women  organisations coming out in the open against the statement. The resignation of Neyyattinkara MLA R Selvaraj has also given nightmares for the LDF camp. The LDF, meanwhile, raked up the issue of fake affidavit of Anoop Jacob. It urged the EC to disqualify him as he had violated rules by not including the full information in his affidavit. The electioneering was peaceful with no major violence or cases of serious violation of model code of conduct reported from anywhere.