Normally a chit fund burst holds little electoral significance.
But in Maradu municipality, recent burst of a couple of chit funds is set to spice up the campaign scene.
The United Democratic Front (UDF) is trying to use it as a whip to lash the rival Left Democratic Front (LDF), exploiting the alleged links of the CITU to the chit fund operator while the latter calls it a non-issue and draws attention to the all round failure of the UDF dispensation.
“They are vulnerable on the chit fund issue and we will exploit it in the campaign,” the outgoing UDF chairman T.K. Devarajan said. However, C.B. Pradeep Kumar, CPI(M) local committee member, said the all-pervading corruption under the watch of the UDF regime, especially in the allocation of building permits, is the real issue.
The UDF also banks on what they perceive as simmering factionalism in the CPI(M) to help their cause as they hit the campaign trail for returning to power in the municipality. In the maiden elections five years back after Maradu was elevated into a municipality, the UDF bagged 23 out of the 33 divisions.
Even as they are looking to improve the majority, the UDF camp has to deal with rebel menace at least in four divisions in the municipality. This time the Congress is contesting 31 seats and the Indian Union Muslim League in two.
To turn the tables on the UDF and improve its previous bouquet of ten seats, the LDF has this time assigned 26 seats to the CPI(M), five to the CPI and one each to the Nationalist Congress Party and the INL.
Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party has fielded 23 candidates out of which two are from the SNDP Youth Movement, as the party tries out the new political formation to open its account in the municipality.
