Kerala’s Electoral Carnival Concludes in a Burst of Colour

Thiruvananthapuram: The curtains came down on Tuesday for the crucial assembly electoral battle in Kerala after a gruelling 23-day electioneering schedule.

The final stretch of the campaign hit a high in all 140 assembly constituencies, with thousands of workers from major parties—the CPM-led LDF, Congress-led UDF, and BJP-led NDA—gathering for the Kottikalasham (grand finale) in rural and urban centres. As DJs blasted popular Malayalam, Hindi, and even evergreen Punjabi tracks by Daler Mehndi, party workers danced in gay abandon, waving flags and festoons. Confetti cannons went off at regular intervals, showering colourful paper bits resembling party flags and painting the sky red, green, orange, and white. In many constituencies, top candidates joined their supporters atop vehicles, waving and dancing to the beats.

In some constituencies, the parties used chenda melam and band melam, with artists performing percussion in a synchronised manner. In places like the Vattiyoorkavu constituency in Thiruvananthapuram district, candidates stood on long cranes to greet workers.

The grand finale of every election campaign in Kerala is truly unique, a real celebration of democracy in many ways. Except for a few minor skirmishes and arguments between rival workers, the event went off peacefully. As the clock struck 6 p.m., all the noise came to an abrupt halt, as if someone had switched off the loudspeakers.

After energising the cadre in Kottikalasham, the political parties got down to some serious work – going through the electoral rolls, meeting people individually, conducting house-to-house silent campaigns, and distributing slips with voter ID numbers and polling station details.

On Wednesday night, cadres will fan out in each constituency to decorate the areas near polling stations, making every effort until the last moment to woo the electorate.