Political parties in Kerala appeared to heave a sigh of relief on Tuesday after they learnt that the Election Commission (EC) had called off the Assembly by-elections in Chavara and Kuttanad which it had scheduled for November.
Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala welcomed the decision. An all-party meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had on September 9 requested the EC to cancel the elections. The LDF has also welcomed the development.
The meeting had agreed that the model code of conduct for the Assembly elections would come into force on March 10, 2021. The newly-elected MLAs would not be able to do justice to their office in their three-month tenure.
Moreover, Mr. Vijayan had pointed out that the entire government machinery was committed to fighting the pandemic, and it would be impractical to deploy the administration to conduct the bypolls.
The BJP had…