One of the striking features of the LDF’s election campaign for the 2016 Kerala Assembly elections was its ‘Go Green’ approach. And having coloured the state red on May 19, the Front is continuing its environment-friendly approach, aiming to make it more than another election gimmick.
The Suchitwa Mission, the nodal agency for sanitation in Kerala, is collaborating with the city administration to ensure a waste and plastic-free oath-taking ceremony.
A team of 100 volunteers will help in carrying out the ‘green event’, which is taking place in the Thiruvananthapuram Central Stadium. The stadium has a capacity to accommodate 30,000 people.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan also stressed on green priorities during his campaign, planting a sapling after every speech he made at a campaign centre.
Further, when the curtains came down for the Assembly elections, he urged party workers to save all the flex banners which were put up across the state in order to make ‘grow bags’. Taking a cue from their party strongman, members of DYFI from Mannazhi in Malappuram did just that.
These ‘grow bags’ were distributed during the swearing-in ceremony on Wednesday.
As a part of its Go Green approach, the LDF manifesto promised to make Kerala the cleanest state in the country. The manifesto further stressed on waste management and prevention of water pollution. Organic farming is also a high-priority item in the manifesto.
Finance Minister Dr TM Thomas Isaac is another proponent of the Go Green campaign. During his campaign period, he had promised to plant a sapling for every vote by which his margin increased. When the votes were counted on May 19, Isaac won with a lead of 31, 032 votes. Keeping with his promise, the minister has already planted more than 10,000 saplings.
Isaac also took to cleaning roads and public places from the time he got into campaign mode.
The organic farming shops set up by the LDF during the campaign also garnered interest, especially around the time of Vishu celebrations in April.
(This article has been published in collaboration with The News Minute.)
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