Boisterous finale for Lok Sabha poll campaign in Ernakulam

Exciting election campaign culminates in boisterous Kottikalasam with flags, music, dancing, and enthusiastic activists in Ernakulam constituency.

Flags, festoons, ear-splitting percussion music, cacophonous loudspeaker announcements, and impromptu dancing marked ‘Kottikalasam’, the boisterous culmination of election campaign, as activists of the three major fronts in the Ernakulam constituency braved searing heat for their candidates at three major points in the city on Wednesday evening.

Excited activists more than compensated for missing Kottikalasam three years ago during the Assembly election as the Election Commission had banned it since polling was held in the shadow of the pandemic.

Activists of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) were the first to get off the block as a motley crowd to the accompaniment of a percussion team made it to Palarivattom Junction around 20 minutes before Kottikalasam was set to begin at 4 p.m. A few started shaking a leg to the ebb and flow of the music beats even as another was busy flashing the poster of the LDF candidate at motorists passing by.

Moments later, an excavator moved in and parked near the crowd. The idea was to lift the candidate to air on its long arm so that the candidate, K.J. Shine, was visible even from afar. Soon, a two-wheeler procession of women reached the scene and before long they joined the dancing. Ms. Shine joined Kottikalasam after wrapping up the last of her campaign trail through Kakkanad, Vazhakkala, and Alinchuvadu.

Nearly four km away at Town Hall, the venue of Kottikalasam of the United Democratic Front (UDF), things were still silent even though just a little over an hour was left for the electioneering to end. “Sustaining the energy of workers for two hours in this heat is nearly impossible. It is better to delay Kottikalasam so that workers can expend their excitement during a short burst,” said a member of the campaign team, which had little energy left after more than a month-long campaign held in the most hostile weather in recent memory.

That excitement was evident when the procession, which started from Manappattiparambu, wound its way down North overbridge after 5 p.m. It looked more like a festival procession as it featured decorative umbrellas, Theyyam figures and a percussion team. UDF candidate Hibi Eden was seen waving at the public from a decked-up vehicle piloted and escorted by a slew of other vehicles.

Hardly a couple of kilometres away at Madhava Pharmacy Junction, saffron was the theme as the procession, which started from the BJP party office at Pallimukku carrying the National Democratic Alliance candidate K.S. Radhakrishnan, came to a halt. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the toast of the assembly as loud speakers blared a song about his many virtues and guarantees. Amid the dance and frolic, some concerned workers could be seen looking at watches frequently to ensure that they did not breach the Election Commission deadline of 6 p.m. for ending public campaign.