Attingal witnessed a largely peaceful parliament election, some sporadic violent incidents not withstanding. There were some skirmishes in Venjaramoodu, where some miscreants, obviously belonging to the LDF fold, ransacked the booth committee office of the UDF. There were some poster-destroying and flag-felling activities in some areas. By and large, the voting was peaceful and smooth. The election commission puts the poling percentage in Attingal at 66.25%.
Party Calculations
LDF workers are quietly confident of their victory. However, they too admit that the victory margin would be far less what they would prefer. They had anticipated a victory margin of well over one lakh. Now they will be happy to get a majority of about 75000. UDF workers do not have any figures to offer and but they too are confident that they are going to win. Thottakkad Sasi of BJP is somewhat realistic about his chances. Others are too insignificant to even think about a victory. Meanwhile, local CPI(M) leaders have alleged that BJP votes were "sold" to UDF in many booths. The reason for their allegation is the mysterious disappearance of BJP booth agents from many polling booths during the afternoon.
The election work of the CPI(M) was impeccable and highly professional. If ever election work is to be outsourced, CPI(M) has realistic chances of becoming the world leader in that vertical. The local leaders said that they have brought more than 90% of "their" voters to the polling booth. In contrast, the election work of Congress party was as shabby as the functioning of an unsupervised government office. They did not even have booth agents in many polling booths.
The Unique Art of Vote Counting
Some of the CPI(M) booth agents have learned the art of understanding the candidate from the hand movement of voter when he or she is casting the vote. Prof. G. Balachandran of the UDF was the first in the ballot list, Thottakkad Sasi second, and Adv. A. Sampath of the LDF was the third. A voter, if he or she votes for Sampath, has to bring his or her finger down to the third position in the electronic voting machine. Some of the self-declared smart agents of the LDF managed to count the votes from the hand movement. Some of them secretly expressed surprise at the high number of votes they perceive as gone in favor Thottakkad Sasi in Kallambalam area. Only when the results come, we will be able to find out whether this new polling booth wizardry reflects the truth or not.
And the Case of the Worn-out Broom
If we do a person-to-person analysis, Prof. G. Balachandran would emerge victorious. He is qualified, experienced, corruption-free, and modest to a fault. On the other hand, Sampath does not have such an impeachable reputation. Rumors have been floating around about his hard-drinking, womanizing, and wealth-amassing ways – which resemble the activities of Congress leaders of yesteryears. Sampath forcefully denies these allegations. Now, as the polling is over, even CPI(M) workers are admitting this smoke of allegations is not without any fire. Still, the good professor could find himself at the wrong end of election results. May be Sampath is the representative of our times.
Prior to the elections, the CPI(M) had counted Attingal as one of their few sure seats. Nothing obvious has emerged to upset their calculations. In the olden days it was said that communists could even get a "kuttichool" (a worn-out broom) elected from their strongholds. This might well be the election year of the worn-out broom.
Party Calculations
LDF workers are quietly confident of their victory. However, they too admit that the victory margin would be far less what they would prefer. They had anticipated a victory margin of well over one lakh. Now they will be happy to get a majority of about 75000. UDF workers do not have any figures to offer and but they too are confident that they are going to win. Thottakkad Sasi of BJP is somewhat realistic about his chances. Others are too insignificant to even think about a victory. Meanwhile, local CPI(M) leaders have alleged that BJP votes were "sold" to UDF in many booths. The reason for their allegation is the mysterious disappearance of BJP booth agents from many polling booths during the afternoon.
The election work of the CPI(M) was impeccable and highly professional. If ever election work is to be outsourced, CPI(M) has realistic chances of becoming the world leader in that vertical. The local leaders said that they have brought more than 90% of "their" voters to the polling booth. In contrast, the election work of Congress party was as shabby as the functioning of an unsupervised government office. They did not even have booth agents in many polling booths.
The Unique Art of Vote Counting
Some of the CPI(M) booth agents have learned the art of understanding the candidate from the hand movement of voter when he or she is casting the vote. Prof. G. Balachandran of the UDF was the first in the ballot list, Thottakkad Sasi second, and Adv. A. Sampath of the LDF was the third. A voter, if he or she votes for Sampath, has to bring his or her finger down to the third position in the electronic voting machine. Some of the self-declared smart agents of the LDF managed to count the votes from the hand movement. Some of them secretly expressed surprise at the high number of votes they perceive as gone in favor Thottakkad Sasi in Kallambalam area. Only when the results come, we will be able to find out whether this new polling booth wizardry reflects the truth or not.
And the Case of the Worn-out Broom
If we do a person-to-person analysis, Prof. G. Balachandran would emerge victorious. He is qualified, experienced, corruption-free, and modest to a fault. On the other hand, Sampath does not have such an impeachable reputation. Rumors have been floating around about his hard-drinking, womanizing, and wealth-amassing ways – which resemble the activities of Congress leaders of yesteryears. Sampath forcefully denies these allegations. Now, as the polling is over, even CPI(M) workers are admitting this smoke of allegations is not without any fire. Still, the good professor could find himself at the wrong end of election results. May be Sampath is the representative of our times.
Prior to the elections, the CPI(M) had counted Attingal as one of their few sure seats. Nothing obvious has emerged to upset their calculations. In the olden days it was said that communists could even get a "kuttichool" (a worn-out broom) elected from their strongholds. This might well be the election year of the worn-out broom.
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