Ten weeks from now, to election day on May 16, is a long haul for political parties in Kerala, which had been hoping for polling in the second half of April.

The parties are disappointed that the Election Commission of India has given them a long rope to face the voters.

“It’s pretty hard to keep the campaign tempo up for such a long time, particularly in this terribly hot summer,” a leader of the CPI, who would be required to campaign for the LDF in the central Kerala region, said. “We will have to spend more money to keep the campaign going.”

The Election Commission has set April 22 as the opening date for receiving nominations, April 30 for scrutiny of nominations, and May 2 as the last date for withdrawal.

“The long campaign period means extra hard work and physical and mental fatigue for both candidates and campaigners,” VD Satheesan, MLA and Vice-President of the Congress party in the State, told BusinessLine .

“It also means more expenditure.” He also noted that government’s development work would have to be halted because of the electoral code of conduct. Most political parties have been preparing for the elections for months in the expectation that they would be held in the middle of April, or by the last week of the month.

In Kerala’s political ecosystem where two fronts, the UDF and LDF, divide between them a dozen political parties, the selection of candidates and sharing of seats could be tough.

Within the UDF, the Muslim League has proved itself smart by announcing its list of candidates a day before the Election Commission announced the poll schedule. The League had earlier announced it would not demand more seats than the 24 it had received in the 2011 election. Of the 24, it has already announced the names of 20 candidates – five of them members of the outgoing Oommen Chandy government.

But, the third largest partner in the UDF, the Kerala Congress (Mani) is in turmoil. A section of the KC (M) on Thursday left the party and is expected to join the LDF camp. The KC (M), which had been given 15 seats last time, has also demanded more seats. In the LDF, where the lead party, the CPI (M), pretty much decides how many seats the alliance partners get, things won’t be that easy this time. The breakaway KC (M) is pressing for four seats. This will upset the seat arithmetic within the front.

However, the long campaign period has come in handy for the BJP. Since this is the first time the party is going to field candidates in most of constituencies, the long-time gap will give enough time for its new candidates to make their faces familiar to voters.

“I will have ample time to go and meet all voters in my constituency,” said PS Sreedharan Pillai, former BJP State president, who is contesting in Chengannur.

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