Confidence on both sides ahead of Kerala election

Thiruvananthapuram As campaigning wound to a close yesterday in the by-election for the Piravom assembly, the Congress-led United Democratic Front and the opposition Left Democratic Front both said they were confident of victory.

The central-Kerala constituency by-poll was necessitated by the shock demise of Kerala Congress (Jacob) founder, T.M. Jacob. The leading candidates are Jacob's son Anup and the LDF candidate, M.J. Jacob.

Considering the large Christian population in the constituency, the polling has been scheduled for tomorrow with the result to be announced on Wednesday.

The election, which was expected to be a walkover for the Kerala Congress (Jacob) candidate considering it is being held to replace its deceased leader, has turned into anything but an easy contest.

Prominent leaders from both fronts have thrown their weight into the campaign ring over the past two weeks, with chief minister Oommen Chandy and V.S. Achuthanandan, Communist Party of India Marxist veteran and opposition leader, spending considerable time in the constituency.

Strong contender

CPM candidate M.J. Jacob is a strong contender, having lost to T.M. Jacob in the 2011 May elections by just 157 votes. In 2006, M.J. Jacob beat T.M. Jacob by over 5,000.

The contest is important for both parties because the ruling United Democratic Front has only 71 seats in the 140-member state assembly and if it loses the Piravom seat the LDF tally will move up to 68.

The UDF was boosted last week when Neyyattinkara MLA R. Selvaraj of the CPM decided to quit, pulling down the LDF tally by one seat.

The UDF is hoping it will win Piravom and take its tally back to 72, the number of seats it had when it narrowly won the assembly elections in May last year.

Officials said all arrangements for the polling were made and that electronic voting machines had been readied.

The 134-odd polling stations will have 185 voting machines, some of them intended as stand-by machines.

A holiday has been declared for offices and educational institutions on the polling day.

A number of issues from infrastructure to welfare measures and inflation to religion have been highlighted during the course of the intense campaigning in the constituency.

Federal defence minister A.K. Antony, who campaigned for Anup Jacob, said the CPM was a divided house.

Achuthanandan retorted Antony only spoke out while in Kerala and kept quiet when relevant issues came up in Delhi.

Owing to the Neyyattinkara MLA's resignation, the UDF will be safe even if it loses in Piravom, but victory would strengthen its position.