Red Letter Day

By all accounts, the civic polls outcome (Sept 24 and 26) is likely to favour the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front. But it’s been a bitter battle all around. The Malapattom gram panchayat in the northern Kannur district, under CPI(M) rule since its formation, will return all their candidates unopposed this time. The reason: Congress candidates withdrew their nominations for fear of the Marxists. (In the past too, this has happened in nearly 100 wards across the state.) Another indicator of lawlessness in the red bastion: the number of booths marked sensitive by the state EC. Out of 2,464 across the state, Kannur has as many as 1,150! Additional forces have been requisitioned now from neighbouring states to instil confidence in voters across 36,000-odd booths.