Onmanorama pollmeter tracks 12 closely-fought constituencies across different phases of campaign: Nemom, Manjeshwar, Palakkad, Kunnathunad, Pala, Kottarakkara, Peravoor, Thripunithura, Ambalappuzha, Taliparamba, Payyanur and Nattika. This is the second part on Kottarakkara where Onmanorama captures emerging trends from ground-level feed. Read the first part here.

If a poll is done to identify the most liked candidate in Kottarakkara, former CPM MLA and UDF candidate P Aisha Potty will win hands down.

CPM supporters still have a soft corner for Potty though she had stormed out of the party to contest as a Congress candidate. BJP workers Onmanorama talked to also said she was the most helpful MLA Kottarakkara had. Congress workers are only happy to see her with them as Potty, according to them, has never prioritised party affiliation over public service.

Yet, Finance Minister K N Balagopal holds on to his lead. "He might not have been as accessible as Aisha Potty but we have no complaints against him either. There is also the belief that Balagopal was a very successful finance minister," said Kannattu Ravi who runs a bakery at Manikanteshwaram in Veliyam panchayat where the LDF has a brutal majority of 16 in a council of 20 members. "Why should we vote for Aisha Potty when we have a nice man in Balagopal," he said.

Aisha Potty, in short, has come up against Balagopal's 'niceness'. The minister's agreeable image could thwart Potty's plans to lure a decisive section of Left voters to the UDF fold.

"Aisha chechi has always been kind and helpful. We are angry that she left us but also sad that we cannot vote for her. When comrade Balagopal is the candidate, there is nothing for us to think," said Remany, a CPM worker in Veliyam.

In this 'good versus good' battle, it looks like the Left supporters prefer the in-house good. "Here it is not like in Taliparamba or Payyannur or Ambalappuzha. In these other places where a former CPM leader is contesting with UDF help, there is at least a remote suspicion among Left supporters that the CPM candidate in these constituencies has done something improper. In Balagopal's case, he is clean," said Santhosh Maliekkal, a rubber tapper who called himself a "party man".

Advocate B G Ajith, a former BJP ward member, offers yet another reason why Aisha Potty is struggling against Balagopal. CPM's formidable organisational strength.

"It helps that Balagopal has a clean image. But sensing that Aisha Potty could wreck his chances, the CPM is holding public meetings everyday and making wild claims about development. On top of this, CPM workers have by now visited each house in the constituency four to five times making the same claims of development. The UDF does not have the organisational capability nor the money to match this. Balagopal's claims, therefore, remain largely uncontested," he said.

Forget CPM votes, Ayisha Potty could lose some Congress votes, too. BJP candidate Resmi, who just a month ago was the Congress's most popular face in Kottarakkara, could eat into Congress votes in areas like Kulakkada, Ummannur and Ezhukone; Ummannur and Ezhukone panchayats are ruled by the UDF, but in Kulakkada, neither front has a majority.

"These are areas where Resmi had scored big in the 2021 elections. She was also a ward member in Kulakkada panchayat. She can take away some 2000-3000 traditional Congress votes from these three areas (Kulakkada, Ummannur and Ezhukone)," said Santhosh Mylom, a contractor who once worked for the Congress party.

Voters Onmanorama talked to also remarked that the BJP campaign was the least visible in the constituency. A clear sign that it is a two-way contest in Kottarakkara.