: The United Democratic Front (UDF) is hoping to return to power in the May 16 Assembly elections, campaigning for which concluded here on Saturday.
The Congress, which is contesting in over 85 seats, had to virtually take on two opponents this time in real triangular contests. Only the election results would prove whether the electoral battle was a right angle triangle. None of Congress party’s coalition partners had to face the kind of pressure it had to face during electioneering. On the surface, the UDF, and primarily the Congress, had to confront Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his contingent’s strong, incisive if not crude campaign styles that gave the impression of a major surge by the National Democratic Alliance, which included the Bharatiya Dharma Jana Sena and a motley grouping representing various caste organisations.
At the grassroots level, the fight is clearly between the Congress and the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the majors in the UDF and the LDF respectively, in a majority of constituencies. There are exceptions to this in a few seats where the BJP hopes it would be able to fulfil its ambition of opening an account in the Assembly or at the worst, turn out the runner-up.
Natesan a spoiler?
For the ruling coalition, which was constantly uneasy while managing its social equations in the last five years, the NDA-BJP did become a bother because the combine had a definite agenda. The BDJS, led by Vellappally Natesan, could be a spoiler for the LDF and the UDF. For the UDF, this factor would be crucial in South Kerala, which is expected to power the UDF back to office. The UDF is looking forward to a strong minority consolidation in its response to the high-voltage NDA campaign. A victory is important for the Congress because it would be a boost for its national leadership, which, it seems, is yet to recover from its 2014 debacle. It would enable the Congress to stitch up a national platform of secular democratic forces to take on Mr. Modi.
The Congress campaign was primarily led by the troika of Oommen Chandy, Ramesh Chennithala and V.M. Sudheeran. The only national leader of note to touch down for electioneering was Sonia Gandhi, with Rahul Gandhi turning out to be a surprising absentee. Mr. Chandy will feel vindicated if the UDF comes to power since he had to face a series of allegations during a major part of his term in office. The credit for any result which improves on the UDF’s current tally will go to Mr. Chandy.
But the LDF has been silently working on some of its core campaign themes such as corruption. It could also benefit from the votes of a section of the Muslim community, which have doubts about the capability of the Congress leadership to take on the BJP. In the high ranges, the LDF might find the going easy this time. But the main question that the UDF and the LDF would have to answer this time is whether they would be able to prevent the BJP from entering the Assembly.
