THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala is looking forward to the political experiment of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the CPM in Puthuppally, turning their backs on the ongoing challenges posed by Mathew Kuzhalnadan MLA and other corruption allegations.

CPM sources are saying that the UDF should not have too much hope in the Puthuppally by-election. The CPM's assessment is that the initial situation in the constituency has changed and the grassroots campaigns will be beneficial for the party. The CPM thinks that if the UDF, which is expecting a huge majority on the wave of sympathy in favour of Oommen Chandy, does not achieve the massive majority in Puthuppally, it would gain a great deal of confidence before the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who came to Puthuppally the other day for the second phase of campaigning, gave a speech completely ignoring the controversies. He also talked about the development achievements of the government. The Chief Minister said that the number of development projects in Kerala has increased and that the LDF has implemented the development projects which were stalled during the time of UDF.

The CPM had earlier alleged that the initial denial of permission to distribute kits in Kottayam district was due to the interference of the UDF. However, opposition leader V D Satheesan approached the Election Commission requesting that kits be distributed in Kottayam district as well. Following this, the commission gave permission for distribution of kits.