THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Despite coming under scathing attack on police excesses and facing the heat in a series of issues including chief minister’s style of functioning, the LDF pulled off a historic victory in Chengannur. The embarrassing defeat of the Congress and the BJP in the bypoll has certainly given a big boost to the LDF to do a repeat of its performance of 2004 Lok Sabha polls when the front secured 18 out of 20 seats, in 2019. With less than a year left for the parliamentary elections, the front leadership is confident of sustaining the momentum for the big polls.
During the past two years the government was caught in a series of controversies and even faced sharp criticism from within the front especially from the CPI. The chief minister came under direct attack on several occasions during this period. On Thursday he listed some of the issues which he felt were blown out of proportion; arrest of Mahija, failure to meet sister of Latvian woman who was raped and murdered here, failure to meet Vinayakan’s parents and heavy security deployment for himself.
Even the telephone bills, medical reimbursement bills and other allowances which the ministers were eligible to avail, were shown as huge corruption. LDF leadership believes that many of the controversies were cooked up deliberately to tarnish the image of the government. The LDF, however, will have to seriously think about its police policy to rein in rogue policemen in future. While the UDF had targeted the LDF government accusing it of failing to implement development projects, the BJP had unleashed a scathing attack alleging that the LDF dispensation was harbouring Jehadi elements in the state and was against Hindu. However, none of these allegations seem to have convinced the voters of Chengannur.
In spite of the negative campaign, it goes to the credit of the LDF government that it stuck to its agenda and promises made in the manifesto. By dealing sternly with the agitations against NH development and Gail Gas Pipeline projects, the government succeeded in sending out a clear message that it was committed to make these projects a reality.
The four mega missions Haritha Keralam, Life, Modernisation of Education and Ardram, though still in a nascent stage, were visible on the ground. The missions which are directly linked to the people and their welfare covering crucial sectors like education, housing, environment and healthcare are expected to change the face of state in the next three years. The LDF strategy is to go ahead with the development projects and rise to the expectations of the people without getting bogged down or diverted by controversies during its remaining period in office.
Having tasted a stupendous victory, the LDF leadership believes electorate has given a green signal to go ahead with the development agenda and secular politics. By making it clear that the government was positive to constructive criticism and would not hesitate to implement constructive suggestions, the chief minister has sent out a clear message that the LDF was keen to take everyone on board in its journey towards building a "Nava Keralam".
