Never in the history of the State has Assembly elections fought so closely and political pundits are finding it clueless to predict voter loyalty this time in Thrissur district.
All the 13 constituencies witnessed no-holds-barred campaign by three fronts. The social media was a strong presence with news, stories and trolls.
The unseen undercurrents are baffling election pundits this time. Other than the common issues of development and corruption, no local issues were discussed even at the peak of the poll heat.
Calculations are mainly made on the strength of the parties and the image and personal relations of the candidates.
Top national leaders reached the district for the campaign of all the three fronts. When Congress president Sonia Gandhi and former Defence Minister A.K. Antony attended the campaign rallies of the UDF, BJP president Amit Shah, Union Ministers Smirti Irani, Mahesh Sharma, Piyush Goyal, and Nirmala Sitaraman reached the district for seeking votes for NDA candidates. Left leaders Prakash Karat, Brinda Karat, and Manik Sarcar campaigned for the LDF.
The UDF had six and the LDF had seven seats in the last Assembly. When Thrissur, Wadakkanchery, Manalur, Ollur, Irinjalakuda, and Kodungallur stood with the UDF, Guruvayur, Chelakkara, Kunnamkulam, Chalakudy, Kaipamangalam, Nattika, and Puthukkad showed loyalty towards the LDF.
Though the NDA with BJP-BDJS alliance is not expected to win any seats, it may make a clear increase in the vote share.
