Three fronts hopeful of victory, 23-day long campaign ends in Nilambur

NILAMBUR: Although a red alert was declared as per the weather warning and heavy rains fell, none of that affected the Kottikalasam in Nilambur. The Kottikalasam in the Nilambur by-election became colourful today as the BJP also strengthened its campaign at the last minute. It is the silence period tomorrow. People will vote on Thursday. All three candidates shared the hope of victory. Meanwhile, independent candidate PV Anvar responded that even if there is a storm, his vote will fall in the box.

Left candidate M Swaraj sought votes by discussing the welfare pension controversy. This statement by AICC General Secretary K C Venugopal was the main weapon used by the Left in Nilambur this time. Even in heavy rain, the supporters of the three fronts danced to the tune of songs in the Kottikalasam, enlivening Nilambur.

The UDF estimates that Aryadan Shoukath will get a majority of between 10,000 and 15,000. The strength of the UDF's hopes is that the unity of the front is more evident than usual. The LDF is assessing that the contest was made unpredictable at the last minute through the campaign led directly by the Chief Minister. CPM is trying to milk most from UDF's unholy nexus with the Welfare Party and Jamaat-e-Islami and also estimates that the situation will be more stable if it influences the Christian communities.

There are seven panchayats and one municipality in the constituency. The UDF estimates that it will be able to gain control of the five panchayats it governs. The CPM is in the final stages of its strategy to increase the vote share in the UDF panchayats, along with preventing vote leakage in the two panchayats and the Nilambur municipality under LDF rule. The NDA's goal is to increase the vote share. However, the Anvar camp claims that it will get at least 10 percent of the votes. The Congress and the CPM are concerned that even though they are confident that the front's votes will not leak, a share of their votes will go to Anvar.