An all-party meeting organised by the police on Monday unanimously agreed upon abstaining from victory celebrations in the Vadakara Lok Sabha constituency of Kerala on June 4 after 7pm to avoid confrontations between the winning and losing alliances in an already charged atmosphere.

However, it was also decided that the winning front would be able to celebrate till 7pm on June 4 and the day after.

In one of the most hotly contested constituencies, Vadakara had witnessed a vicious campaign by the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF).

The parties also agreed to remove all publicity materials such as banners before the 7pm deadline on June 4 to avoid any conflagration of the already intense rivalry between the two alliances in the constituency that witnessed highly emotive, communal and misogynistic comments during the Lok Sabha poll campaigning.

CPM Kozhikode district secretary P. Mohanan told reporters that the decision was taken to avoid confrontation after the results. Kozhikode district chairman of the UDF, K. Balanarayanan, and Indian Union Muslim League leader Ahmed Mullakkal were among those who participated in the meeting.

The Vadakara constituency had witnessed a vicious hate campaign, mainly against CPM candidate K.K. Shailaja. The former health minister, who currently represents Mattannur in the Assembly, had been subjected to cyber attacks and smut videos with morphed images.

The Congress on the other hand had shifted incumbent MP K. Muraleedharan to Thrissur when his sister Padmaja Venugopal joined the BJP.

While the CPM fielded Shailaja, the Congress nominated Palakkad MLA Shafi Parambil from Vadakara to retain the constituency won by Muraleedharan in 2019.