The hectic electioneering spanning over 17 days have not battered K.V. Thomas, whom the UDF have fielded in Ernakulam constituency.
On Tuesday, the final day for public campaign too, Prof. Thomas set off from home around 7 a.m. as he did all through the campaign phase.
“I have always cared to meet voters personally than resorting to some mass contact programmes through electronic or mechanical modes,” said Mr. Thomas while seeking the support from Vasantha, a lottery vendor near the District Congress Committee office.
“How many lottery tickets do you sell a day? How’s life otherwise,” enquired Prof. Thomas as Ms. Vasantha explained her life in brief to him. Ms. Vasantha said she knew “Thomas Mash” right from his tutor days in S.H. College Thevara, and pledged her vote to him.
Prof. Thomas formally launched his campaign on March 24, though he had made his presence known in the constituency much ahead of others. And when it formally began, Prof. Thomas started it from near South Chellanam St. George Church and ended it at Kumbalanghi, his native village. “It has been my way of campaigning in all the elections,” said Mr. Thomas who is contesting his sixth election to Parliament.
And this time, said Mr. Thomas, he had met over one lakh voters. Unlike during some of the earlier elections, the organisation functioned like a well-oiled engine and it would bring its results, said Mr. Thomas.
He had reserved the day for personal meetings with small groups representing various sections of society. A visit to the Ernakulam market, meeting some religious heads and attending a feast at Chittoor Sree Krishna Temple were some of the events that he attended on the final day of campaign. And it ended with a mass event at Kumbalanghi, as always.
