Where political rivals are not enemies

‘Elections come only every five years but we have to co-exist all the time’

The road leading up to St. Thomas LPS at North Palluruthy, a polling booth in Kochi Assembly constituency, offered a refreshing sight with the political party booths of both the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the United Democratic Front (UDF) sitting cheek by jowl with little animosity among the respective party workers. Usually, such booths set up on the polling day are separated by a fair distance with little interactions between the camps, reflecting the intensity of the electoral battle under way. But not in this booth 86 of North Palluruthy where the UDF and LDF booths are set up right next to each other. “We have been having this arrangement for decades now. Simply because we believe in different political ideologies does not mean that we have to be at each other’s throat all the time. Elections come only every five years but we have to co-exist all the time,” said P.G. Thampy, an LDF activist.