The marked increase in polling percentage in the Aruvikkara Assembly by-election on Saturday has put the main contenders, the UDF, LDF and the BJP, on tenterhooks.
The spirited participation of voters and the increase in polling percentage have left the floor open for speculation. The post-poll picture has become hazy and made predictions impossible.
While the UDF reads it as a mandate in favour of the government, the LDF terms it as an anti-incumbency vote and the BJP describes it as the response of women and young voters in favour of its candidate.
Consistency in voter turnout and closing of the polling at 76.31 per cent are being seen as a marked deviation in the voting pattern from the previous elections. Be it in the case of former Aryanad or since its transformation as Aruvikkara, the polling percentage had by and large remained at around 60 to 65 per cent.
The highest margin of 12,071 votes was recorded by the late Speaker G.Karthikeyan in 2001. On polling 70.21 per cent votes, he had got a margin of 10,674 votes in 2011.
Campaign managers of K.S. Sabarinath (UDF), M. Vijayakumar (LDF), and O.Rajagopal (BJP) exude confidence of registering an impressive win. The UDF attributes the high polling percentage to the goodwill earned by the government for its development and welfare initiatives.
“A high voter turnout had always proved to be advantageous to the UDF. This is a direct outcome of the systematic and untiring efforts put in by the UDF,” says Congress leader Thampanoor Ravi.
LDF general convener Anavoor Nagappan says that the high turnout is a barometer of the public sentiment against the government. “This is a public mandate against corruption, nepotism, and lack of good governance,” he says.
BJP spokesperson V.V. Rajesh and State secretary J.R. Padma Kumar say that the party has succeeded in sending across a message to vote for a change.
