Campaigning for the first phase of assembly elections in Kerala, in which 59 segments are going to polls, ended on Thursday.

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All arrangements have been made for the smooth conduct of polls in the state's southern districts -- Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Kottayam and Idukki -- going to polls on April 22, Chief Electoral Officer Nalini Netto told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram.

Campaigning reached its peak in the last two days with national leaders, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Prakash Karat, Communist Party of India leader A B Bardhan and Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram, undertaking whirlwind tours.

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The Left Democratic Front is trying to capitalise on an apparent 'wave' in their favour in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam and Alappuzha districts due to a combination of factors including the presence of CPI-M stalwart V S Achuthanandan as the coalition's electoral pivot.

Fighting under Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, the main plank of the United Democratic Front-Democratic Indira Congress (Karunakaran) alliance is development. However, the LDF has challenged it saying that only affluent sections had benefitted from the programmes and policies of the ruling coalition.

The LDF found a hero in Marxist veteran V S Achuthanandan whose presence has boosted the coalition's prospects, poll surveys said. Though lagging far behind the UDF and LDF, which have been ruling the state alternately, the BJP has put up its candidates in most of the assembly segments going to polls in the first phase.

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