Candidates' day off after polling

By Ignatius Pereira

KOLLAM, MAY 11. After a month-long hectic schedule of campaign in the hope of making it to the State Assembly, with no time even for the family, most of the candidates today found time to wake up late, relax and attend to personal engagements.

The D-Day on Sunday has not forced them, especially the candidates of the two main fronts, to keep their fingers crossed. While all of them were easily available to the media during the campaign period, today many of them were simply not reachable. Some of the candidates from Kollam district spoke to The Hindu on their hopes.

While many of the UDF candidates said that in addition to attending to personal engagements, they have to give priority to visit UDF workers hospitalised as a result of the attacks by LDF workers yesterday, the LDF candidates said that they would be spending most part of the day with party workers to study the voting pattern in detail and of course attend to some personal work too.

Chavara constituency in the district was one where the fight was tight and the outcome keenly expected. The LDF candidate, Mr. V.P. Ramakrishna Pillai of the RSP, said that the 73.45 per cent voting at the constituency gave him the cocksure feeling that he would win by a substantial majority. He said he would like to spend the day relaxing with party workers at Chavara.

However, his rival, Mr. Shibu Baby John of the RSP(B), said the voting per cent was an aspect which made him very confident about his victory. Already, there is the 100-seat prediction of the exit poll for the UDF and in such a situation Chavara will remain on the top of that list. The general UDF wave in the State has its positive effect in the constituency, he said.

His priority today was to visit UDF workers who have been hospitalised after being attacked at several places by rival party workers.

Kottarakara is another constituency in the district where the outcome is keenly awaited. Here, the UDF candidate, Mr. R. Balakrishna Pillai of the Kerala Congress(B), said that he has a habit of touring the entire constituency on the day following the election and would not like to break it this time. He is also speaking at a function in the neighbouring constituency of Neduvathur but before that he would call on some of the UDF workers hospitalised as a result of attacks by LDF workers.

With regard to the victory aspect, he said the 72.55 per cent voting registered in the constituency is already giving the jitters to the LDF camp. Mr. Pillai said that he has an assessment of the majority figure but would like to keep that figure to himself for the time being. He expected a positive result for the UDF in the constituencies of Chadayamangalam, Punalur, Pathanapuram and Neduvathur.

The UDF candidate from Pathanapuram, Mr. K.B. Ganesh Kumar of the Kerala Congress(B), was back at the hospital today to continue with the medication for the injuries he sustained after being allegedly attacked by LDF workers during a campaign. His father, Mr. Balakrishna Pillai, said that "Ganesh should win by a margin of at least 5,000 votes". He also said that except for Aryankavu, Mr. Ganesh would get the majority in all the other grama panchayats in the constituency. His rival and sitting MLA from the constituency, Mr. Prakash Babu, was not available for comment.

Reacting to the 70.39 voting per cent registered at the Kundara constituency, the UDF candidate, Mr. Kadavur Sivadasan of the Congress, said he has enough reason to be confident about victory. In fact, the voting pattern showed that "I would be leading at most of the grama panchayat constituencies under the constituency". Mr. Sivadasan said that he would be attending two funerals and later call on UDF workers who have been hospitalised as a result of the alleged LDF attacks in the constituency.

His LDF rival and sitting MLA, Mrs. Mercykutty Amma of the CPI(M), said that the voting percentage had boosted her confidence. She said that the even though the Congress had claimed that groupism within the party had been settled things had been different at Kundara, especially on voting day. This factor would also help her, she said. After a hectic campaign schedule she would like to spend the sitting at home, she said.

Mr. Hidur Mohammed of the Congress, the UDF candidate at Punalur, said that the 68.83 percentage of voting registered in the constituency showed that he should win by a majority of at least 2,000 votes. Moreover, the trend in the constituency was largely pro-UDF. He would be spending the day calling on UDF workers admitted to various hospitals, he said.

His LDF rival and sitting MLA, Mr. P.S. Supal of the CPI, said the voting percentage indicated that he would have the advantage as was predicted during the campaign. He would win the election, he asserted. The day would be spent attending a funeral and then he would relax, he said.

The UDF candidate from Chadayamangalam, Mr. Prayar Gopalakrishnan of the Congress, said that the voting percentage of 70.20 registered in the constituency would help him since the figure has gone up compared to last time. He said he had received the support of the PDP, NSS and SNDP and these factors would greatly contribute to his victory. His immediate rival and LDF candidate, Mrs. R. Lata Devi of the CPI, was not available for comment.

At Kollam constituency, the voting percentage was the lowest in the district with 62.93 per cent. However, the UDF candidate, Mr. Babu Divakaran of the RSP, said that the figure gave him high hopes of victory. May be the margin would go down a little but the fact that he would win remains intact, he said. He spent the day attending a wedding, two funerals and visiting the trouble- torn spots of the Kollam beach area.

His LDF rival, Prof. Kallada Vijayam of the RSP, could not be reached as she had gone out on some personal engagements. However, one of her close relatives at home said that Prof. Vijayam was highly confident due to the voting percentage in the constituency. In fact, Prof. Vijayam expected to win by a margin of 3,000 to 5,000 votes, the relative said.

The UDF candidate from Karunagapally constituency, Mr. Rajan Babu of the JSS, said that the voting percentage of 74.62 in the constituency indicated there was a wave in favour of the UDF. This time the UDF enjoys the support of the PDP and RSP(B) and the UDF itself was an unquestionably united team at Karunagapally, compared to the last elections.

An advocate of the Kerala High Court, he rushed to Ernakulam this morning to argue a couple of cases which had come up before the Vacation Court. His LDF rival, Mr. K.C. Pillai of the CPI, could not be reached.

The UDF candidate from Kunnathur, Mr. Pandalam Sudhakaran, said that he would be spending the day attending to KPCC work. He would also be seeing off the AICC general secretary, Mr. Ghulam Nabi Azad, at the Thiruvananthapuram airport. So the day continued to be hectic for him, he said. He would also hold talks with party workers.

The 74.56 voting per cent at the constituency made him very confident of victory. He also claimed that in addition to the PDP support, the NSS had also extended support to him. His immediate LDF rival, Mr. Kovur Kunjumon, was unavailable.

The BJP candidate from Eravipuarm, Mr. Pattathanam Radhakrishnan, said that the 66.53 per cent polling in the constituency could work towards ensuring his victory. He said Eravipuram was one of the constituencies in the southern parts of the State where neither the LDF nor the UDF sincerely claim victory. He would spend the day by discussing with party workers the poll pattern in the constituency on a ward-by-ward basis, he said. Both his rivals, Mr. A.A. Aziz of the LDF and Mr. T.A. Ahmed Kabir of the UDF, could not be reached.

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