Silent campaign day in Adoor erupts into leaflet controversy, protests and arrests

Electioneering in the Adoor Assembly constituency, which had largely focused on development issues until now, turned acrimonious all of a sudden on Wednesday, the day of the silent campaign, triggering widespread protests, arrests and the registration of cases against candidates from both the United Democratic Front (UDF) and the Left Democratic Front (LDF).

The controversy began to unfold in the morning with C.V. Shanthakumar, the UDF candidate, lodging a complaint with the District Collector, accusing Communist Party of India (CPI) workers of distributing a leaflet. The pamphlet claimed Shanthakumar was the prime accused in the Kalleli Ramachandran murder case of 2008. The LDF, however, denied any involvement in distributing the pamphlets.