Twenty days shy of the March 17 polling, the largely rural and agricultural Piravom constituency is coming to terms with its political significance and the media attention it gets.
Residents of the 12 panchayats that constitute the constituency, whose major source of livelihood is agriculture, are pleasantly surprised that they have become ‘newsworthy' people. They are aware that their ‘yes' or ‘no' will, to a large extent, determine the course of the current government's life, and influence the political debate in the next few years.
The legion of media persons and their vehicles amuse them. Many Malayalam news channels have set up shop in Piravom for round-the-clock electioneering watch. The frequent ‘Piravom news' flashes on the television channels and the presence of important political personages and Ministers assures the electorate that their votes are really valuable.
Election-related hype and hoopla are not alien to the constituency. Ever since the Piravom constituency came into existence in 1977, nine elections have been held. In most of these, the winners had thin margins. Of the nine, LDF candidates could make it only twice - Gopi Kottamurikkal and M.J. Jacob. The fights had always been close, and hence the electioneering noisy. But this time around, the campaign is particularly sharp, noisy and visible.
Constituency covered
Since the campaign started late in October, every nook and cranny of the constituency has been touched. Both fronts have deployed armies of volunteer (as well as ‘paid') campaigners to every single home. ‘No home left unvisited' is the goal of both the fronts. While the LDF focuses on small bands of local volunteers to visit the homes, shops and markets, the UDF's grassroots-level campaign is a little showy with white-khadi-clad leaders and TV crews making an impression. The BJP, which announced its candidates only this week, is yet to start its campaign in its real sense. It formally launched its electioneering by holding the constitution-level convention on Sunday.
Piravom, with no municipalities in its hold, is a rural Assembly constituency. (Thiruvankulam, one of the 12 panchayats, has joined the Tripunithura municipality, but it continues to be part of the Piravom constituency). Agriculture is still the main occupation and hence there are several villages not influenced much by urban way of life.
