The streets of Aruvikkara looked almost deserted on Tuesday morning, a day when the entire State had trained its eyes here in anticipation. There was no visible activity even outside the election committee offices of the various parties at Aryanad, the hub of all election activity that has rarely experienced any silence in the past month.
Around 8 a.m., a few passers-by began gathering outside a small textile shop, where a television was placed. After the past few days of feverish discussions, everyone seemed to prefer to ring in the results of the Aruvikkara by-poll with silence. Within a few minutes, the first leads became visible, with K.S. Sabarinadhan of the United Democratic Front (UDF) starting a slow surge. That moment also brought out the political allegiances of some of those who had gathered, with a few smiling faces and others with apprehension writ large on them.
In the next one hour, as the lead increased to 4,000, the first of the Congress workers started appearing in the streets, by now entirely confident of the direction in which the wind was blowing. A few activists on motorbikes passed waving flags. As the lead touched 9,000, several Congress workers gathered at the roundabout at Aryanad and started cleaning a bust of Mahatma Gandhi here, in anticipation of their candidate’s victory celebration.
By the time victory was confirmed, the entire area was engulfed in celebrations, with speaker-laden jeeps and lorries filled with jubilant activists arriving from across the constituency. Victory songs, many of them lampooning the Left and the Bharatiya Janata Party, and others praising the UDF candidate, were played. Workers of the UDF allies, including the Indian Union Muslim League and the Revolutionary Socialist Party, also joined the celebrations waving their respective flags.
Soon, the discussion on the street was on the exact time Mr. Sabarinadhan would visit the junction. Four hours after victory was confirmed, Mr. Sabarinadhan made his way into Aryanad on an open jeep, through Aruvikkara and Vellanad, and was mobbed by the waiting party activists.
He soon proceeded to garland a framed photograph of his father G. Karthikeyan, whose passing away necessitated the by-election. He broke down in front of the photograph. Later, he walked up the steps to garland the bust of Mahatma Gandhi.
“When my father won the Assembly elections in 2011 and stood here addressing you, I was beside him. Many people said that this time the colour of Aruvikkara would change, but it has not. It is my father’s developmental initiatives here that ensured the UDF’s win this time. This win is also due to the hard work of the party workers here. I have only a short stint ahead and I assure you that I will be with you all round the clock,” Mr. Sabarinadhan told a cheering crowd.
He later proceeded to Vithura, Kuttichal and other areas of the constituency.
