Thiruvananthapuram: Last month, when there were increasing references to Kerala chief minister Pianarayi Vijayan as ‘captain’ from within the Communist Party of India Marxist ranks, a mini controversy was triggered, with some party men pointing out that such hero worship wasn’t in the nature of communists.
On Sunday, when the state assembly results came, there was no doubt who was boss, whether the term used was leader, captain or any other moniker.
Leading from the front, Vijayan took the ruling Left Democratic Front to a 99-41 sweep in the 140-member assembly, the first time that a coalition has retained power in Kerala since the LDF and the opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) were formed four decades ago.
Significantly, the Bharatiya Janata Party, which had won its only seat ever in Kerala in 2016, lost that this time. The party suffered more distress as its star candidate and technocrat, E. Sreedharan lost in the Palakkad constituency.
Epic rout
Given that the LDF and UDF alternate in power in Kerala, retaining power in itself is a historic achievement but Sunday’s victory is even more astounding for the victory margin, effectively routing the Congress-led UDF.
Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala and former chief minister Oommen Chandy managed to win, but the Congress was decimated across different geographies including its strongholds in central Kerala. Chandy’s own majority diminished from over 27,000 votes in 2016 to 8,504 votes this time,
Chennithala said the defeat was “unexpected” and that “the Left’s victory does not mean that its corruption and loot had disappeared”. Chandy, who appeared shaken by the margin of UDF’s defeat, said “the UDF will take this as a challenge”.
No Rahul Gandhi effect
The Congress had banked on the traditional political merry-go-round in Kerala, which gave victory to alternate fronts every five years, as also on a series of corruption allegations against the Vijayan government.
None less than the speaker of the state assembly was alleged to be involved in a gold smuggling case, there was controversy over giving monopoly deep sea fishing rights to a private company that would affect the livelihoods of fishermen, and thousands of youth protested backdoor appointments in government jobs for those close to the CPM.
On top of all that, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who is an MP from Wayanad, Kerala had campaigned at length along with Priyanka Vadhera, raising hopes of a Congress win.
But the Congress had looked rudderless towards polling time, with the party having brought in Oommen Chandy into the leadership position, sowing doubts in voters’ minds about who would lead the party if it was voted to power.
Food kit turns a hit
Several political observers in Kerala opined that the free monthly food kits supplied through ration shops throughout the COVID-19 pandemic time was a huge draw with the masses, earning praise for the Vijayan government.
The state government’s handling of the flood of 2018, the Okhi cyclone and the COVID-19 pandemic since early last year, also won wide appreciation. Vijayan’s health minister K.K. Shailaja was thus one of the biggest winners on Sunday, getting a majority of more than 61,000 votes.
“One thing is clear. Charges of autocracy, gold smuggling, the Lavalin case etc do not matter to the common man, for whom a roof over his head, food kits and welfare pensions are the key determinants,” S.R. Nair, well-known business mentor told Gulf News.
BJP ‘account closed’
Just as Rahul Gandhi appeared to have no impact on the poll, national leaders of the BJP including Amit Shah and Yogi Adityanath who campaigned in Kerala too could not make any impression.
On the contrary, the BJP lost the Nemom seat, the only one it had won in 2016. Vijayan had vowed that the “BJP’s account in Kerala, opened in 2016, would be closed”.
BJP’s star candidate E. Sreedharan who had expressed a desire to be chief minister, and had even taken up an office space to work from after he became MLA, was also swept away in the LDF wave across the state.
BJP’s state president K Surendran fared even worse, losing form the Manjeri and Konni constituencies from where he contested.
