Frenemies Congress and CPM feel the BJP heat in Kerala
Fate of LDF or UDF will depend on the number of votes gathered by BJP candidates
Thiruvananthapuram: Just as the greenery in Kerala cleverly camouflages the intense summer in the state, the political scene in Kerala may give the impression that it is another Left-versus-Congress poll battle for Lok Sabha 2019.
But that is a mirage, and both the Communist Party of India Marxist-led Left Democratic Front (LDF), and the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kerala know that the third player in the fray — the Bharatiya Janata Party — is no pushover this time.
In fact, what will decide the fate of LDF or the UDF in several of the state’s 20 constituencies will depend on the number of votes gathered by the BJP candidates.
Worse still for the traditional fronts, they may be in for some rude shocks in a few constituencies where initial surveys have even come up an advantage for BJP candidates.
The Congress and the Left have traditionally been the main contestants in Kerala, even when they joined hands at the federal level. This time, too, they are frenemies — enemies in Kerala where the CPM spews venom at Rahul Gandhi for deciding to contest from Wayanad, and friends in neighbouring Tamil Nadu state, where CPM candidates have Gandhi’s photo on their campaign posters.
Youth unemployment, commodity prices, reconstruction work following floods, loss of jobs for Keralites based abroad, and declining fortunes of small traders are all serious issues staring at the state.
What is different this time, however, is that they have a real third contestant to face in the form of the BJP, which appears to have made strong inroads into voters’ minds after the Sabarimala agitation.
When the Supreme Court permitted the entry of women into the temple, the LDF government did all it could to implement the court ruling. The BJP exploited the political opportunity, riding on the ‘offended Hindu’ platform, promising the electorate it will ‘protect tradition’ if elected to power.
Youth unemployment, a meltdown in commodity prices, pending reconstruction work following the floods of August 2018, loss of jobs for Keralites based abroad, and declining fortunes of small traders are all serious issues staring at the state, but the biggest noises being heard in the campaign are about Sabarimala and a ‘threat to democracy’.
The Left parties and Congress have been attributing fascist tendencies to the BJP, which in turn has consistently harped on the development plank and the ‘bruised Hindu sentiment’ to appeal to voters.
Beyond those political planks that all parties have traditionally banked on, the biggest twist to the Lok Sabha polls in Kerala was provided by Congress president Gandhi’s decision to contest from the Wayanad constituency, a seat that the Congress won the last two times through MI Shanavas.
The CPM was immediately up in arms against the decision, arguing that by contesting in Wayanad, Gandhi was taking on the CPM rather than toe his party’s line to dethrone the BJP. Congress cadres in Kerala were buoyed by their chief’s decision, and the BJP accused the Congress president of running scared of his traditional base, Amethi in Uttar Pradesh.
20
The Lok Sabha poll this time is also a political test for chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who is the star campaigner for the CPM and LDF this time. For over a decade, it had been veteran communist VS Achuthanandan whose charisma helped the CPM garner votes and seats.
More than everything else, the one single question on every Keralite’s lips is whether the BJP will open its Lok Sabha account in the state this time. The party’s hopes are so high this time that veteran leader Kummanam Rajasekharan gave up the governorship of Mizoram state to plunge into a poll battle against the flamboyant Shashi Tharoor in the Thiruvananthapuram constituency.
The Left parties and Congress have been attributing fascist tendencies to the BJP, which in turn has harped on development and the 'bruised Hindu sentiment' to appeal to voters.
Early surveys show that Rajasekharan is gaining ground in Thiruvananthapuram, just as his party colleague K Surendran is doing in Pathanamthitta against sitting Congress MP Anto Antony and the LDF’s Veena George.
Congress and Left leaders aver that there are hardly any jitters for them yet, but if BJP does manage that one seat, saffron will be another political hue for the green state.