The election campaign, which lasted for one and a half months in the state, has come to an end. The voting is also over. All the 20 constituencies witnessed fierce contests. The election was generally peaceful, except for occasional clashes during the grand finale of the campaign and on polling day, and the deplorable incidents of ten people collapsing and dying during polling. Although the fronts and candidates are busy making calculations regarding the results, the excessive delay which occurred in the voting process at many places this time has given way to huge complaints and objections. There have been cases where many people waited for hours at the polling booths and returned without voting. There was even an incident where some voters who came to the polling booth were sent back citing technical reasons. If the malfunctioning of the voting machine was the villain in several places, the inexperience of some of the officials assigned to the election duty was also a reason for this. In some constituencies like Ponnani and Vadakara, polling had to be conducted late at night.

It is believed that the lack of experienced officials and the lapse in providing expert training to those selected for polling duty resulted in a decrease in voter turnout. The Election Commission has also come under fire for failing to implement any effective measures to deal with the unbearable heat. Despite spending hours in the intense heat, many people were unable to cast their votes. Meanwhile, the UDF alleged that this was part of a planned effort to help the opposition candidates. The democratic process will suffer if there is any validity to these complaints.

Following the polls, violent incidents occurred in a few different locations in the state. It's time for the ranks to stop their deadly wars and divisive outbursts in the name of their political beliefs. Nowadays, not many party workers tend to fight over the controversies created by political leaders. However, during the election campaign period, one person was killed in a bomb blast in Panoor. Only one of the candidates will prevail in an election. That is how democracy works. Now, there is a long wait before us to know the result. People should not waste their time, energy and health fussing over results. Politics is always a struggle between ideas. It is not an arena for individuals to fight each other physically. In this time when political leaders switch sides and leave parties according to opportunities, what can party workers gain by fighting against each other for someone?

If we look around, we can see the life stories of so many people who have lost their lives due to political conflicts. Those who want to live in brotherhood and harmony should stop the political war at least from now on. We saw several controversies during this election campaign period. We also saw smear campaigns against the candidates using social media. Some even tried to create divisions, even religiously, to polarize the vote. The political leaders must take the initiative so that the political arena does not become dirty. This is also the time for them to self-introspect to find if they are fulfilling that responsibility and duty.