Aruvikkara is getting ready for its biggest electoral battle, even as candidates hit the election trail in establishing local-level connect in the first round. While Left Democratic Front (LDF) candidate M. Vijayakumar and United Democratic Front candidate (UDF) K.S. Sabarinath went around meeting various sections of the public, Bharatiya Janata Party candidate O. Rajagopal waited for his party to formally clear his name, something which is a fait accompli.
While the LDF and the UDF candidates went around trying to connect with the electorate, their party leadership grappled with several problems.
Discussions
The Congress leadership was by and large involved in neutralising any possible local resentment against Mr. Sabarinath’s entry into the electoral fray. The District Congress Committee convened a meeting of all its members in the eight panchayats which come under the Aruvikkara Assembly segment. This would be followed by ward committee meetings, before the party gets ready for launching its election convention on June 6 by none other than Congress Working Committee member A.K. Antony.
The CPI (M) leadership found itself caught in a high-wire media debate about Leader of the Opposition V.S. Achuthanandan being kept away from campaigning in the constituency. The absence of his name in the list of campaigners for the constituency has been depicted as an act of sleight.
CPI(M) State secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan appeared strained in explaining that the party would induct him for the election campaign. Mr. Vjayakumar also asserted that the Opposition leader will campaign for him.
‘Politics of adjustment’
Mr. Rajagopal utilised his intervening waiting period to assert that his contest would expose the politics of adjustment between the LDF and the UDF.
The Revolutionary Socialist Party has formed a committee headed by N.K. Premachandran to ensure the victory of the UDF candidate. A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of the RSP State secretariat here on Monday, presided over by its national general secretary T.J. Chandrachoodan. The party has decided to deploy senior leaders, including State secretary A.A. Azeez, Labour Minister Shibu Baby John, and MLA Kovoor Kunjumon for the campaigning, the party said in a statement here. The RSP had contested the Aruvikkara seat during its innings in the Left Democratic Front.
