Candidates make a final pitch to voters as open campaigning for the first phase of the local body polls in Kerala ends

In the hectic hours marking the countdown to the culmination of the open campaigning for the first phase of the local body polls in seven southern districts of Kerala on Sunday, candidates of competing fronts undertook flashy whirlwind tours and brisk walkarounds of their constituencies to make a final, fervent and public pitch to voters. 

In play in the first phase of polling on Tuesday are three Municipal Corporations, 39 municipalities, seven district panchayats, 75 block panchayats, and 471 grama panchayats spanning Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Kottayam, Idukki, Alappuzha and Ernakulam districts. 

Notably, the political stakes are high for the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF), the United Democratic Front (UDF) Opposition, and the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), given the perception that the civic polls offer an approximate bellwether of Kerala’s voting behaviour ahead of the Assembly elections in 2026. 

Shut out of power in the Assembly for nearly two terms, the UDF views the local body polls as an existential battle. The NDA hopes to emerge as a disruptive third force seeking to end the LDF-UDF duopoly in the State, albeit incrementally. 

The LDF views the local body polls as an opportunity to dispel the UDF-NDA narrative of mounting anti-incumbency anger and, concurrently, to widen the ruling front’s perceived path to victory in the 2026 Assembly polls.

Loud and bright

The vibrancy of the day was evident in clamorous roadshows and colourful corner meetings. Campaign vehicles wove through constituencies, drowning neighbourhoods in arousing electioneering theme songs set to deafening martial music. Crackers and traditional percussion ensembles heralded the arrival of candidates. 

Political activists carrying flags and wearing party colours organised motorcycle rallies as the high-decibel campaigning reached a climax, culminating in spectacular finishes in town and village centres at 6 p.m.

Last-minute political back-and-forths over Sabarimala gold theft and accusations of shielding the accused; sexual predation cases swirling around absconding Palakkad MLA and expelled Congress leader Rahul Mamkootathil; bickering over courting communal forces for transient electoral dividends; and insinuations of covert alliances to enable tactical cross-voting dominated the day’s frenzied election rhetoric. 

The high-octane political wrangles marched almost in lockstep with debates centring around fundamental civic issues. The ward-level campaigning centred on garbage disposal, extending sewerage lines and piped drinking water to more neighbourhoods, repairing potholed roads, and addressing an evident dearth of basic amenities, including toilets and cloakrooms, in public spaces,. 

Shortages of medicines and beds in government hospitals, an alleged decline in public services, seller inflation, affordability crisis, and NH-66 work-related disruptions and safety concerns animated the hustings.

As the carnivalesque open campaigning reached its final gasp, leaders of the competing coalitions — Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan, and BJP State president Rajeev Chandrasekhar — broadcast a message of unalloyed optimism to the electorate. It also signalled the start of a silent campaign focussed more on doorstep conversations with voters and the distribution of pamphlets.