The thirsty mallus...

The nation was anxiously watching the first phase of elections yesterday. We Keralites also had the opportunity to have our say on the future of this nation. But, for us it was also a long holiday from 9^th of April till the 16^th with only two working days in between on 13^th and 15^th. It was festival season.

 This has caused lot of hardships to common man. Personally, I got a taste of the same when we ran out of the cooking gas (Spic) on 15^th morning. The gas agency remained closed on 15^th and 16^th. I got the new cylinder delivered just 10 minutes ago. Since I was alone at home, I had food from outside. But the real challenge was the drinking water. There was no way to get the water boiled, and I had to buy the costly mineral water. I do feel that the Election Commission, the political parties and the other concerned authorities should keep in mind such factors while fixing election dates.

 While I was thirsty for the drinking water, many of my fellow mallus were thirsty for their daily liquor quota. There was a two day holiday for the liquor shops in the state and when the shops re-opened yesterday evening at 5 P: M, there were long queues at all the outlets, much longer than what we had at our polling booths. Through this long holiday, the state beverages corporation managed to do record business.

 The analysis of yesterday’s voting pattern throws up some interesting and disturbing prospects. The comments on the same will follow...