Thiruvananthapuram: While big hoardings and posters of smiling candidates have started appearing across Chengannur constituency, the delay in announcement of dates is causing concern among political parties. The parties are worried about the expenses required for sustaining a long duration campaign. During the 2016 Assembly polls, Election Commission had fixed Rs 20 lakh to Rs 28 lakh limit for each segment. But in a keenly contested bypoll which many believe is also the first real test of LDF Government, the spending limit is likely to go up considerably for all contestants. It is a high stakes battle for the UDF and BJP as well.
At the moment parties are managing a low key campaign with posters and banners, things would change once the poll date is announced. In the next round public announcement vehicles will be on the roads and public meetings featuring leaders will happen on major junctions. According to rough estimates the cost for engaging a public announcement vehicle for a single day comes to around Rs 2000 and facilities for a public meeting in major junctions would require about Rs 5000. It goes without saying that vehicles and public meetings will be all over the place once full scale campaign begins.
Besides, big public meetings involving top leaders would cost few more lakhs. As of now the CPM, Congress and BJP have started exclusive election campaign pages on the Facebook. The pages have video footage of the campaigning by candidates, top leaders and mass contact programmes along with ground reports. From Kerala’s victory in Santosh Trophy to greetings during religions festivals and cultural events, all figure in these pages.
Apart from expenses, what is also bothering the candidates and their supporters is the sweltering heat wave conditions in the constituency. The house to house or locality level contact programmes of candidates have been restricted to morning and evening hours. Since the candidates will have to prepare for long haul, they have been advised by leadership to avoid exerting too much and ensure they remain fit and fine throughout the campaign.
