Kerala and Bengal go to polls today

Coimbatore: In a bizarre acknowledgement of political reality, the Left parties and the Congress partners in the ruling United Progressive Alliance government will match their wits against each other in several Assembly constituencies of West Bengal and Kerala today.

The five-phase Assembly elections, which include polls in north-eastern Assam, the former French enclave of Pondicherry, and southern Tamil Nadu, will end on May 8. But the elections in the two key states is rapidly emerging as the biggest test for the Congress-led federal government. It sets the stage for a dramatic shift in the power balance if the Marxists retain West Bengal and oust the Congress in Kerala.

In West Bengal, 66 Assembly constituencies will go to polls today. But it's in Kerala, where the Congress is fighting a determined Left onslaught, that the drama of this election lies.