Thiruvananthapuram: The three-week-long vociferous campaign ahead of the state assembly election came to a close by Tuesday evening as the 48-hour silence period mandated by the Election Commission kicked in. Silence period is supposed to usher in an atmosphere for voters to cast their vote without fear on Thursday. According to Section 126 of the People’s Representative Act 1951, public meetings should not be convened or attended during the last 48-hour period prior to the end of voting time. March, procession, music programmes, play productions and any other similar entertainment programmes that could attract voters are banned during the silence hours. Telecast and broadcast of election campaign are also banned as per the provisions in the Act. Political workers are supposed to leave the constituencies during the silence period if they were working in constituencies where they have no vote. As many as 27,142,952 voters are expected to cast their votes in the election. As the time for active campaigning ended, LDF, UDF and NDA claimed higher stakes in the election. While LDF sought vote to take forward the development initiatives the LDF govt ushered in during the last 10 years, UDF countered the development claims and are relying heavily on the plausible anti-incumbency against the govt. NDA too campaigned heavily, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, not just to reopen its closed account in the state assembly but to push aside the two prominent fronts and emerge and win seats enough to form a govt. All three fronts, in their election manifestos, focused heavily on welfare measures, unmindful of the depleted coffer to be inherited by the next govt. However, the main theme of the election campaign was the ‘deal’ allegations levelled by all fronts against one another.Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan led the LDF campaign almost single-handedly and UDF remained an undivided house under opposition leader V D Satheesan. For the first time, BJP persistently tied its narrative on development and tried to prove the LDF and UDF are one and the same. Sabarimala gold heist continued to be a major election issue, from which UDF and NDA expect to make electoral gains. However, the Left camp exuded confidence that the LDF under Pinarayi Vijayan would be able to win public mandate for the third time in a row.
