Nilambur all set for by-elections; only hours left for voters to reach polling booth

MALAPPURAM: Nilambur will go to the polls today after two weeks of intense campaigning. The fronts and candidates are tense. While the UDF is hoping for a majority of between 10,000 and 15,000 for Aryadan Shoukath, the LDF is expecting a majority of not less than 5,000. The Anvar camp is hoping to get at least 10 percent of the votes.

CPM state secretary MV Govindan's statement that CPM had joined hands with the RSS during the Emergency, just hours before the voters were to reach the polling booth, has left the LDF camp in a state of shock. Although Govindan has come out after the controversy to point out that his statement was distorted, the CPM is concerned that it will create a stir among the minorities. The CPI is also unhappy with the statement. The RSS controversy has unexpectedly become a weapon for the UDF, which was on the defensive after the LDF strongly raised the UDF-Jamaat-e-Islami connection. However, the Chief Minister held a press conference in the evening and corrected the mistake in Govindan's statement.

Opposition leader VD Satheesan alleged that MV Govindan's statement was a loving reminder for the RSS and BJP's help in Nilambur. "Pinarayi has said in many interviews that his party has got the RSS's vote. Why did the CPM remember the old friendship just before the Nilambur by-election? Even though they had separated, they were great friends and now the CPM has asked them to help," VD Satheesan said. KPCC president Sunny Joseph said that MV Govindan had unknowingly revealed the truth that the CPM leaders had tried to cover up.