Claims and counterclaims are flying thick and fast between rival fronts as a no-holds-barred contest is shaping up for Kalpetta, Mananthavadi and Sulthan Bathery municipalities in Wayanad.
The UDF is confident of winning all three municipalities while the LDF is equally determined to wrest them back this time.
Kalpetta municipality had stayed with the UDF in three out of the four elections since its formation in 1995, the only exception being 2005 when the municipality went to the LDF.
While the anti-incumbency factor may work against the UDF, political analysts do not see it forceful enough to upset the UDF chances.
The newly created Mananthavadi municipality had witnessed an uninterrupted LDF rule for more than two decades during the days when it was still a panchayat.
It was stopped temporarily in 2005 when the UDF ruled with the help of CPI(M) rebels for one-and-a-half year before registering a decisive victory over the LDF with a comfortable majority in 2010. Rebels pose a threat to both fronts at least in three divisions - Puthanpura,Valliyurkavu and Choyimoola. The UDF rule has been the norm in Bathery panchayat, except for a brief period in 2005. The trend could be the same even after it has been elevated into a municipality.
The LDF, of course, is confident that this election could bring better fortunes while the BJP remains in the fray to ensure that it’s no longer a two-horse race.
Rebels pose a threat to both fronts at least in three divisions - Puthanpura,Valliyurkavu and Choyimoola.
