The highly charged Lok Sabha election campaign in Kerala came to a close on Wednesday evening, marked by a carnivalesque atmosphere but also marred by violence and political posturing. Opposing campaigns descended upon district centers across the state, adorning their respective party colors and engaging in a last-minute scramble for media attention. However, the raucous gatherings of rival political workers in crowded town centers escalated into violence in several places, highlighting the tense nature of the campaign. In Karunagapally, Congress legislator C.R. Mahesh sustained injuries due to stone-throwing, prompting the police to intervene with tear gas. Similar clashes were reported from Palakkad, Malappuram, Alappuzha, and Kasaragod. A peculiar feature of the high-octane campaign finale was the use of skylift cranes by candidates. These elevated them high above the chaotic crowds below, allowing them to capture vertigo-inducing selfies and post them on social media. In many places, the clamorous campaign season, which spanned one and a half months of sweltering weather, concluded with refreshing late afternoon showers. Livelihood issues, the rising cost of living, unemployment, poverty, the widening rich-poor gap, and inflation dominated the campaign discourse, alongside weightier concerns about secularism, the alleged weaponization of investigating agencies and tax administration against political rivals, and the future of federalism. The political debate was also animated by emotive issues such as Islamophobic rhetoric, denial of space for the political opposition, the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, ethnic violence in Manipur, India’s perceived slide towards electoral autocracy, and the cult of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the sole benefactor of welfare schemes and guarantor of development. The noisy poll debate, amplified by social and mainstream media, encompassed a wide range of topics, including: the Palestine question, the Ayodhya Ram temple, human-wildlife conflict, the declining cash crop sector, agrarian distress, the backlog of social welfare pensions, the Centre’s alleged discrimination against Kerala, the misuse of anti-terror and anti-money laundering laws, the perceived lack of significant development, fraying infrastructure, and the perceived absence of effective MPs. The vibrant and lively contest, manifested in colorful flags, wall writings, festoons, banners, corner meetings, and high-decibel roadshows, transformed the state’s drab summer landscape into a riot of colors. Celebrities, top political figures, rock shows, street theater, parodies, stirring campaign theme songs set to martial music, trolls, mocking memes, and digitally condensed political content tailored for mobile phone screens characterized the campaign as it reached its climactic finish across the state. As overt campaigning drew to a close, the competing coalitions expressed unwavering optimism about their electoral prospects. However, the end of overt campaigning marked the beginning of a more subdued but equally intense phase of door-to-door canvassing.
Carnivalesque Lok Sabha Campaign Ends Amid Violence, Political Posturing
