Poll campaign ends on a stormy note

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, MAY 8. Campaign for the May 10 Assembly elections ended on a stormy note this evening with campaigners for the rival political combinations making a frenetic effort to woo the voters. The conclusion of the campaign was also marked by stray violence, mostly in the southern parts of the State.

Valiyathura in Thiruvananthapuram West constituency witnessed an altercation between LDF and UDF activists when the latter took out a procession in the evening. There was stone- throwing between the two sides. The UDF constituency committee alleged that fire crackers were thrown at their activists injuring four persons. However, the police denied this.

In the Kottarakkara constituency, an LDF activist was hacked allegedly by UDF workers and had to be rushed to the Medical College Hospital here. The UDF candidate in Muvattupuzha, Mr. Johny Nelloore, sustained minor injuries in stone-throwing. An election committee office of the UDF nominee in Thripunithura, also in Ernakulam district, Mr. K. Babu, was destroyed.

The last few hours of the campaign also saw a lot of unauthorised publicity material being distributed in various constituencies to defame contestants. Such instances were reported from Thiruvananthapuram North, where the Speaker, Mr. M. Vijayakumar, was at the receiving end of a smear campaign, and in Varkala, where the CPI(M) Central committee member, Mr. P.K. Gurudasan, had a similar fate. Both have complained to the Election Commission to initiate stringent action against those who have published and distributed the material.

The CPI(M) State secretariat has held the UDF leadership responsible for publication of the printed material and called upon the authorities to take action against the persons responsible for publication of such material.

Hundreds of vehicles fitted with public address systems vied with one another from early this morning to take the message of their respective candidates to the voters. At several important junctions in major towns, noise levels rose to unbearable levels by evening with several groups campaigning simultaneously.

Both State and national-level leaders had toured the State over the last fortnight to campaign for their respective candidates. Prominent among the national leaders to arrive in the State for campaigning were the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, the Congress(I) president, Ms. Sonia Gandhi, the CPI(M) general secretary, Mr. Harkishan Singh Surjeet, the Home Minister, Mr. L.K. Advani, the BJP president, Mr. Jana Krishnamoorthy, the CPI general secretary, Mr. A.B. Bardhan, and the NCP leader, Mr. Sharad Pawar.

The Chief Minister, Mr. E.K. Nayanar, and the Leader of the Opposition, Mr. A.K. Antony, the two main campaigners for the LDF and the UDF respectively, were in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday to campaign for their front nominees. The two addressed public meetings in city constituencies even as the Prime Minister paid a flying visit to the city to address his only campaign in the State.

With the public campaigning drawing to a close, attention has now shifted to door delivery of voters' slips and door-to-door campaign. The polling officials were today busy setting ballot papers in the electronic voting machines and sealing them. There are 22,732 polling booths in the State to enable 2,16,42,362 voters to exercise their franchise. The polling would take place from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. on May 10. Thirty companies of Central forces have been deployed in the State.

There are 676 candidates in the fray in the State. With 80 persons in the fray, Thiruvananthapuram has the highest number of candidates. The capital also has the constituency with the highest number of contestants: Thiruvananthapuram West with 11 candidates. The lowest number of candidates is in Wayanad (18). The only constituency witnessing direct contest is Pala in Kottayam district where there are only UDF and LDF nominees in the fray.

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Section  : State Elections
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