Kerala local body polls: Tamil Nadu-style electioneering gets popular in Idukki

Party workers fixing posters in Tamil at Vattavada in Idukki.
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SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

The borderlines are blurring in Idukki’s local body elections, where the campaigning has shifted entirely to “Tamil Nadu model” in the Tamil-dominated belts. From larger-than-life cut-outs to stylised Tamil announcements, the election scene here has shed the Kerala aesthetics for the vibrancy usually witnessed across the border.

Poll campaign managersin Kanthallur, Vattavada, Marayur, Munnar, Devikulam, Chinnakkanal, Udumbanchola, Vandiperiyar, Peerumade, and Elappara are mainly following the electioneering style in Tamil Nadu. The Left Democratic Front (LDF), United Democratic Front (UDF), Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), and other Tamil Nadu political parties are campaigning in Tamil.

A campaign poster for UDF candidate in Vattavada in Tamil.
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SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

In the Tamil-majority regions, popular melodies from Tamil films, amplified through loudspeakers, are played to attract the community. Additionally, the candidates exclusively use Tamil in all poll materials, including posters, announcements, and speeches.

Former Vattavada panchayat president R. Ramaraj says 99% of voters in the panchayat are of Tamil-origin. Most voters here are proficient in Tamil, and using this language for electioneering resonates more effectively with them, says Mr. Ramaraj.

K. Krishnamurthy, campaign committee leader of the UDF, affirms this.“In border areas, many are more familiar with speaking and writing in Tamil than in Malayalam,” he says.

Three political parties from Tamil Nadu are also in the fray for the local body polls in the State this time. The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), and the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) are holding campaigns at various parts of the district. According to them, there are 38% Tamil voters in Peerumade, 28% in Udumbanchola, and 48% to 52% in the Devikulam Assembly constituencies. These parties are eyeing for a majority in the plantation sector.

DMK Idukki district secretary K.K. Janardhanan says the party is contesting 22 seats in Idukki and Kollam districts. “The campaigning is in Tamil in all regions where the community is strong,” he adds.

AIADMK State vice-president Palaniswami says the party is contesting28 seats in Idukki, Thiruvananthapuram, and Palakkad districts. “The AIADMK is contesting 10 wards in Devikulam panchayat and in three blocks in Devikulam,” he said.

VCK Kerala spokesperson Riswan Koya K.S. says the party is only contesting in seats where it has a sure chance of winning. “The VCK is contesting in 15 seats in Idukki and Alappuzha,” he says.

In September 2019, AIADMK member Praveena S. of ward four (Memala) was elected as president of the Peerumade grama panchayat with UDF support.