The high-voltage campaign for the May 28 Chengannur Assembly byelection ended on Saturday.
The open campaign for the byelection came to a grand finale by 6 p.m., bringing the curtain down on the gruelling two-and-a-half-month-long exercise. Braving rain, supporters of the three major political fronts waving respective party flags staged a noisy performance during the final hours of campaign. This led to traffic snarls in Chengannur town. A minor scuffle also broke out between the LDF and UDF activists at Mannar. As many as 17 candidates are in the fray for the bypoll. The main candidates are Saji Cherian (LDF), D. Vijayakumar (UDF) and P.S. Sreedharan Pillai (NDA).
Earlier in the day, the LDF, UDF and NDA held public meetings and roadshows to woo voters in the constituency. The bypoll, necessitated following the death of Communist Party of India (Marxist) MLA K.K. Ramachandran Nair, is seen as a litmus test for three major fronts. The outcome is significant for the ruling front as it is seen as an assessment of the two-year-old State government.
During the longer-than-expected campaign trail, several top leaders of the LDF, UDF and NDA campaigned for their respective candidates in an effort to sway the voters in a likely cliffhanger. From corruption to communalism, development issues, political murders, law and order situation, Karnataka polls, performance of the Union and State governments, sky-rocketing fuel prices, the electoral potboiler had it all.
Meanwhile, District Collector T.V. Anupama said all arrangements had been made for a free and fair polling on Monday.
