Voters sound note of caution n LDF’s victory margin over UDF 1,499 wards n Chandy faces Ramesh threat
Thiruvananthapuram: The LDF could not have wished for a better political climate ahead of the local polls but voters preferred to present it less than a landslide, sounding a caution that it needs to do more before marching to the May 2016 Assembly poll arena.
The margin between the LDF and the UDF is 1,499 wards, with LDF winning 10,350 wards and the UDF 8,851 wards. This is the pattern of slender percentage of vote difference between the two major fronts in elections to legislatures. The UDF had 2,680 wards more than the LDF in 2010.
Opposition leader V S Achuthanandan’s charismatic campaign against the BJP-SNDP pro-majority tie-up proved more than a match for Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, whose mass contact marathons and doer image could not shake off sleaze surrounding his colleagues.
The mandate gives several lessons. The LDF can’t afford to sup with minority fundamentalists and hope to run a convincing campaign against majoritarian Hindutva politics.
It is time for Congress to shed its kid gloves approach towards rabid fundamentalists. It will fall between two stools in a State, whose almost 50 percent population is minority.
The BJP has made gains at the expense of the SNDP and through assiduous work done by the RSS cadre over the years but Kerala's secular ethos does not countenance the Togadia brand of Hindutva politics. This, because Mr Ashok Singhal and Dr Praveen Togadia, both VHP leaders, reportedly facilitated the BJP-SNDP tie-up.
On the leadership issue, Mr Chandy is under direct threat from Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala, who wants the high command to initiate a thorough overhaul, a euphemism for a change of guard, either now or in time for the Assembly polls. Given Congress groupism, which was rampant in the local polls, more fireworks are expected.
In the opposite camp, the CPM also has a leadership issue to tackle. What role does it assign for Mr Achuthanandan? BJP claims it will soon be a force in the State’s strictly bipolar politics. Its tie-up with SNDP facilitated more Ezhava candidates in the fray. Yogam leader Vellpally Natesan is getting ready to announce his party. Congress is apparently hemmed in by its powerful allies, Muslim League and Kerala Congress (M). Without them, the Congress faces existential dilemma but it is time the grand old party reinforced its secular and egalitarian base to keep the allies in check.
KPCC president V M Sudheeran has promised to undertake a post-poll soul-search. Senior leader A K Antony referred to undercurrents on the poll-eve. UDF convener P P Thankachan was blunt, blaming bargate for the UDF plight. Congress leaders with unsullied reputation have to decide whether to keep the tainted under the same roof and go downhill.
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