Kerala Polls - A Date Wuth History

Coalitions led by CPI(M), Congress and BJP are locked in a fierce, fluctuating contest in Kerala. A resurgent Congress and a belligerent BJP are trying hard to deny the left parties a historymaking victory in their last bastion. No matter which party wins, the state is likely to lose one thing: its long-held political equilibrium

- Cithara Paul

Among voters in India, the ones in Kerala are perhaps the hardest to please.

Since 1980, when politics in the state became bipolar with the emergence of the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) and the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF), they have not allowed a ruling coalition to return to power. For 40 years, governments have been voted out like clockwork.

“Even those governments that had earned the goodwill of the people—like the ones formed by E.K. Nayanar in 1987 and V.S. Achuthanandan in 2006—could not come back to power,” said Prof Sajad Ibrahim of Kerala University in Thiruvananthapuram. “Kerala voters are easily the most critical-minded and demanding ones.”

But for this voter penchant to switch allegiances, the LDF government appears to be on a strong wicket this time. “We are confident because we have delivered on our promises and done much more,” Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told THE WEEK. “The people trust us.”

But will this trust translate to votes? “The performance of the current government may be good on some counts,” said advocate and political observer K. Jayashankar. “But, if you look at Kerala’s election history, good governance has never fetched anyone votes.”

But then, the LDF has already bucked a historical pattern. Last December, it became the first ruling coalition in 30 years to sweep the local body polls. “The government certainly has an edge over the opposition after the local body polls, and that is a rare thing for a ruling coalition,” said J. Prabhash, former head of the department of political science in Kerala University.