People's Democracy

Fraudulent Survey By Malayala Manorama

AS any observer of the Kerala scene knows, the ruling LDF is far ahead of the opposition UDF in the election campaign here. However, there are a few media barons who are unable to digest this fact, and try to mislead the people in a number of ways. The latest in the series is the Malayala Manorama group’s poll survey which, it said, was conducted by the Marg-Mode team.

According to the survey, the UDF is going to win 80 to 100 seats in the Kerala assembly --- out of a total of 140. It is said that the survey was conducted with a sample of 2,034 persons. Who these 2,034 persons are, what their credentials are, how the survey was conducted, and how much representative it can be said to be --- these are things yet to be explained by the paper that published the result of the survey on its front page, with an eight-column coverage.

Here one may well recall that, during the 1996 elections, the same team had predicted 85 seats in favour of the UDF, while in the end the LDF came to power with a comfortable majority of 80-60. Who torpedoed the Malayala Manorama-sponsored survey in 1996? The paper is yet to tell us.

Clearly, while psephology is a science of probability and may lead to a fairly accurate forecasting of election results if utilised in an objective way, it has now degenerated into a political weapon to manipulate public opinion. This is exactly the case with the survey sponsored by Malayala Manorama.

It is another thing that the survey has failed to cause even a minor ripple in the Kerala waters.

Reports show that Congressmen are resigning from the party in large numbers due to the anti-people and anti-party policies adopted by its present leadership. KPCC joint secretary Cherian Phillip recently left the party and is now an independent candidate against Oommen Chandy, a Congress bigwig. From Kozhikode a number of resignations have been reported including that of Lonappan C T, a very prominent leader of the Congress(I) and its National Karshaka Thozhilali Federation. He was also a prominent leader of the Congress(I)’s teachers wing before his retirement. He was also a block president of the Congress(I). He has issued a statement making a scathing criticism of the present leadership.

Soon afterwards, papers reported about the resignation of James Chacko, the UDF’s mandalam election committee convenor in Mararikulam assembly constituency. Resigning from his post and his party, he has decided to work for the success of the LDF candidate here. The LDF candidate in this constituency is Thomas Isaac who is one of the architects of the People’s Plan campaign in the state. Chacko’s wife, Kochu Theresa James, has also resigned from the Congress(I). The duo resigned from the party in protest against its decision to buy votes from the communal BJP. This, according to them, is a clear deviation from the ideals for which the Congress should stand.

The police have once again discovered a collection of highly explosive and lethal bombs in an IUML centre in Nadapuram. The bombs were in pipe shape and could wreak havoc on getting exploded. The police neutralised the bombs at the police station after they were seized. This incident again shows how the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) continues to connive with criminal, anti-people elements in order to escalate violence in Nadapuram area.