Chennai: Campaigning ended on Saturday in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry for May 16 Assembly polls, bringing the curtain down on the gruelling two-month-long exercise. The ruling Congress-led UDF is up against the LDF headed by CPI(M) in Kerala. For BJP, it is turning out to be a battle of prestige after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's whirlwind campaign and war of words with Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, and the party is keen to open its account in the Assembly.
Numbers
In TN, Jayalalithaa is seeking a second successive term in a state where elections have dethroned the ruling party in recent decades. While the opposition including DMK and BJP harped on prohibition and corruption, Jayalalithaa sought votes on her government's five year-performance. In Puducherry, 9.43 lakh voters will decide the fate of over over 300 candidates in 30 seats.
DC take:
If the Kerala poll campaign was marred by an ugly war of words over concocted issues, in Tamil Nadu an unprecedented amount of money has been seized that otherwise would have been for electoral malpractices – this on top of the subversive freebie culture that the Election Commission seems unable to stop. This isn’t the kind of Democracy India wants.
