Although some opinion polls had predicted that the Left Democratic Front (LDF) may secure up to 101 seats, the LDF leaders’ calculations were more modest. The poll outcome, giving the LDF 91 seats, therefore, came as a pleasant surprise to them as well, though not something undeserved given the effort they had put into the election campaign and the general public mood.
The LDF leadership feels that the election outcome is a vindication of its principled stand on corruption and secularism and women’s strong reaction to the failure of the Oommen Chandy government to offer protection for women. The LDF leadership was worried that the BJP-BDJS tie-up would spoil their chances in several constituencies. They are naturally gratified that it has not happened and that in many places people had risen above such narrow persuasions to cast their votes over issues of concern for all.
The LDF had gone about preparing its manifesto in real seriousness and, as a result, its manifesto was the most comprehensive, giving LDF campaigners sufficient material. The hunger for victory was also evident in the words and actions of CPI(M) activists and sympathisers in the real and the virtual worlds and the whole project was aided by the absence of dissensions in the top rungs of the party.
Candidate selection
Innovations in candidate selection also contributed in the LDF scoring an impressive win in many constituencies. However, its decision to accommodate the Kerala Congress (Democratic), led by Francis George, proved a failure.
Unlike in the past, the LDF leadership had adopted several novel means to reach out to the voters. It had coined the catchy slogan ‘LDF would come, and all will be fine’, taking a page from the BJP’s ‘Achchhe Din…’ catch-phrase and resorted to unconventional advertising, including at railway stations and on rolling stock. It had also taken to the visual media in a big way and took the UDF by surprise by inserting advertisements in almost all newspapers on polling day, contributing to its overall theme.
