Corona may be hot debate for parties in next Assembly polls

Corona will also be a strong poll content in the neighbouring Kerala and Pudhucherry, where elections are due next year, political strategist and commentators told DT Next.

“With states like Kerala and Chattisgarh disclosing their procurement bills, activists are also working overtime collecting the details of these purchases from other States for political comparison. The details of the corona purchase deals will be crucial for the political parties during the 2021 general election campaign,” said a poll strategist on condition of anonymity.

“Corona is a poll content and it will depend on how states like Kerala and TN are using it. Going by the current trend, corona is well-handled by Kerala. In TN, it is in somewhere in the middle level,” admitted the strategist who has worked for a Dravidian party in the past.

“Any disaster like floods or famine will be a poll subject and Chennai floods created a neck-and-neck fight between the AIADMK and the DMK. In case of corona, this is once in a century disaster and the virus epidemic will place decisive impact on the next election,” said political commentator R Mani. Corona will be a gamechanger. But which party it is going to benefit will be too early to predict, Mani added.

Indian Political Action Committee, led by Prashant Kishor, which is working for the DMK had also started working on the corona as content and has planned a couple of digital campaigns.