UDF urges EC to prepone Piravom poll date

Saturday, February 18, 2012: The United Democratic Front (UDF) meeting held here today has decided to request the Election commission to prepone the date of by-poll to the Piravom Assembly constituency.
Addressing the mediapersons here on Saturday, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said that the UDF would urge the Election commission to prepone the poll date to March 17 instead of March 18.
The election will be an acid test for the Congress-led UDF government, which has a slender three-seat majority in the assembly.
The Assembly seat fell vacant after the death of Kerala Congress leader T.M. Jacob. Jacob’s death has further narrowed down the UDF majority in the 140-member Assembly. According to political observers, if the UDF fails to retain Piravom, it could only shake the government.