Thiruvananthapuram: Campaigning for the second of three phases of polling in the Kerala assembly elections came to an end last evening after weeks of political sound and fury, carried out during a scorching summer in six central and northern districts of the state.
Several top political leaders are in the fray in the second phase of polling that will be held on April 29 in six districts Ernakulam, Thrissur, Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode and Wayanad.
In all, there are 66 constituencies that go to the poll in the second phase. The first phase, held on April 22, had involved polling for 59 constituencies.
The two remaining districts will go to the polls on May 3, when the fate of candidates in 15 constituencies will be determined, thus completing elections to the 140-member Kerala assembly.
The 66 constituencies that go the polls in the second phase together have an electorate of 10.6 million people. Going by the average polling percentage of roughly 70 per cent in the first phase, about seven million people are expected to cast their votes in this phase.
At the end of campaigning, the ruling United Democratic Front (UDF) and the opposition Left Democratic Front (LDF) expressed confidence about doing well. While the Congress-led UDF has been encouraged by the visit of some high-profile leaders from Delhi including Congress president Sonia Gandhi, the LDF has been boosted by the predictions of several poll surveys that give it a clear edge.
The second phase of polling is particularly important as several political heavyweights are contesting from the six districts that go to the polls on April 29.
These include Communist Party of India-Marxist leader V.S. Achuthanandan, who is perceived to be a likely chief ministerial candidate if the LDF comes to power, the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) leader P.K. Kunhalikutty, Bharatiya Janata Party leader O. Rajagopal, and Democratic Indira Congress-Karunakaran or DIC(K) president K. Muraleedharan.
The second phase of polling is most important for two parties, namely the IUML and DIC(K) because most of their candidates are from the districts that cast their votes on April 29. Political observers are keenly awaiting the result from these six districts because the IUML had taken special interest to get DIC(K) into the UDF coalition ahead of the poll, hoping that DIC(K)'s support would stand IUML in good stead.
For the BJP, too, the second phase is important because its main hope lies with party leader O. Rajagopal who is contesting from Palakkad.
