Vaikom: The Vaikom assembly constituency is strangely calm through the election campaign that sizzles neighbouring Piravom, Kottayam and Ettumanur. The Left Democratic Front claims that the assembly segment is comfortable with the current political leadership, while the United Democratic Front alleges that voters are peeved at missing the bus.

National Democratic Alliance candidate Ajitha Sabu argues that the constituency was stagnating as nobody tried to  take benefit of centrally sponsored development programmes.

CPI’s C K Asha, the sitting legislator, Congress’s Dr P R Sona and BDJS’s Ajitha Sabu are present throughout the constituency. All three of them faced hardly any challenges from their party colleagues at the time of candidate selection.

They knew each other even before they faced off at the electoral arena. Sona is a former chairperson of the Kottayam Municipality. Ajitha Babu is a former president of the Kottayam District Panchayat.

MLA on the move

Asha’s campaign is a sight to behold. The candidate exudes energy, smiling liberally and tapping to the tunes blared out of her campaign vehicle filled with bouquets.

The people of Vaikom know well that their MLA is not someone who sits on her laurels, she said. She has walked up to the nook and cranny of the constituency even though there were hardly a few days left for the campaign. Her swollen feet are testimony to the effort.

The second phase of her campaign consisted of public meetings and receptions. Does she think crowds are missing in the third phase of the campaign? She said her votes were guaranteed in Vaikom and crowds were no yardstick to measure the campaign.

On lot of women coming forward to join politics these days, she said: "More and more women should enter the public arena. They can work efficiently because they know how to toggle family life and work."

"All three dominant fronts have put up women as candidates.

Isn’t that a good thing? You can’t see it anywhere else in Kerala," she noted referring to the leading candidates in Vaikom. 

Hopeful UDF

Congress candidate P R Sona is firm that she has a high probability of winning. Though the party faced ripples of discontent after the candidate selection in many places, the process was a smooth affair in Vaikom. Sona has a track record of impressive wins at the grass-roots level.

Sona’s speeches are sharp and her critique stinging. Ask her about the campaign that she is an outsider and she retorts: “Look at what you got when a local represented you!”

She goes to every shop and street and mingles with the people as one of their own. She has clear statements to make on every matter of public importance. She is soft-spoken but her words are crystal clear.

Most of the electorate in Vaikom are ordinary people who eke out a living from traditional industries, fishing and pottery. Sona says that the backwater constituency was betrayed by its leaders until now.

On increasing participation of women in politics, Sona said: 

"The onus is on ourselves to prove that women can work efficiently in every sector.  You do not have to differentiate between man or woman in an election. It is a positive sign that alliances are banking on women."

NDA in the race

Ajitha Sabu, the candidate of the Bharat Dharma Jana Sena, had to take a break from the campaign after she was taken ill. She said it was the diabetes. She is back on the scene and making up for lost time. She said that she was used to such kind of hectic political work.

Ajitha said that Vaikom still had twin houses built by the government for poor people. She said that she knew all about the constituency because of her earlier stint as the president of the Kottayam District Panchayat.

"There are people who have to take a day off to collect drinking water. Roads are in a bad shape even though the neighbouring constituencies have good roads. Wherever I went, I was hearing about political apathy," she said.

Referring to the trend of more and more women joining politics, the NDA candidate remarked: "A lot of projects for women are being implemented by the central government and other agencies. These help the women to come forward. More women should come forward."