THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Political Kerala is looking forward to Puthuppally, which is moving to the booth today. The political undercurrents will determine the fate of the Puthupally by-elections where all three fronts fought hard.

UDF is hopeful that the wave of sympathy created by the demise of former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy will create positive ripples in the constituency for Chandy Oommen.

However, Jaick C Thomas had put up a fierce fight against Oommen Chandy the last two times. The left claims an alternative wave of sympathy in favour of Jaick. BJP candidate G Lijin Lal is also in the firm hope of improving the vote level compared to the last time.

The UDF, which adopted a loopholed campaign method in the Thrikkakara model, also used some of the controversies that fell from the CPM as weapons. Expectations are also raised by some opinion poll results during the campaign predicting a large majority for the UDF. Even if it doesn't go that far, the UDF hopes for a relatively big result. The UDF believes that the position of the churches is favourable in the constituency where Christian church leaders have a decisive influence.

But the LDF, which has steadily increased its vote share in the last three elections, is hopeful that it will be able to prevent the UDF's run by getting more votes than last time. Last time Oommen Chandy's majority was less than 10,000 and he was in power in six of the eight panchayats in the constituency, which is bad for CPM's hopes. It is estimated that there are only 40,000 solid party votes in the constituency. It is claimed that if other factors work in Jaick's favour, the picture can change.

The Puthupally result for all three fronts is a pointer to the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. A big setback will affect all three fronts but a big advance will boost the Lok Sabha fight.