With rivals converging on anti-Modi theme local issues dominate LS polls in Kerala 

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Thiruvananthapuram: The pan-India theme of the Lok Sabha elections 2024 can be summed up in a brief line: Do you want Narendra Modi to have a third term as Prime Minister or not. But in Kerala the electoral battle centres largely around local issues. Both the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the main opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) hold that sooner the country is rid of the BJP regime the better. But they cannot run the electioneering on this single theme alone to outsmart each other. They need local ammunition to fire at each other.  

A heated campaign needs them to hurl charges at each other unsparingly since it is a done deal that they will be riding the same boat in Delhi once the results are out. This has led to a show of competitiveness between them regarding sincerity, honesty and efficacy in achieving the larger national goal of bringing an end to the Modi rule.  

While the Congress, along with its UDF partners like the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), asserts that as the only national party in true sense in INDIA bloc it is the legitimate claimant for each anti-Modi vote. “Why vote for the LDF candidates when the Congress is the pivot of the anti-Modi alliance ? Congress is the one and only option for all those who want the Modi rule to end” runs the refrain of the UDF campaign. 

Holding that this is a settled issue, the Congress campaigners are directing their firepower at the LDF Government led by the CPI(M) stalwart Pinarayi Vijayan. Countering the rival’s claim, the CPI(M) is pulling all stops to strategically mount its electioneering on a moral high ground. The party mouthpiece and capsule makers are on an overdrive running down the Congress as an untrustworthy party. 

“Today’s congress is tomorrow’s BJP”, runs a party capsule, citing recent resignations from the Congress of leaders who made a beeline to the BJP in different states. The grand old party runs the Left script, and lacks firm conviction to go all out to defend democracy, secularism and republican values, which are under increasing assault since the BJP ascended to power at the Centre. So, at least in a state like Kerala where the Left is a tried and tested alternative, the voters should be wise enough to send as many Left MPs as possible to the Lok Sabha. 

Expanding on this theme, the LDF recently organized conventions against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in different parts of the state. The Chief Minister himself addres a couple of these meetings. Apart from attacking the Modi rule, he made it a point to take a few potshots at the Congress as well on this issue. Hitting back, the UDF too has made it a big issue and blamed the CPI(M) for taking cases against the anti-CAA protesters a few years back. 

Obviously, both sides are trying to woo the Muslim support. Traditionally, the UDF has enjoyed a greater sway over the minorities in Kerala, especially the Muslim community, which accounts for slightly over one-fourth of the state’s population. This is especially true in parliament elections. 

Of late, the LDF has scaled up efforts to win the support of the Muslim community by astutely projecting itself as a more reliable guarantor of minority rights than Congress. For the Left, especially the CPI(M), picking up a few LS seats from the state is crucial. Last time, it suffered a crushing defeat with the UDF running away with 19 of the 20 LS seats in the state. However, this pattern of both sides wasting their ammunition entirely at the same target makes poor electioneering. 

As the campaign heats up, they will be compelled to take on each other far more fiercel rather than harping on the same national goal, over which there is a clear convergence between them. But this compulsion of bringing local issues into focus can pose problems for national leaders like Rahul Gandhi. A contestant himself in Wayanad Lok Sabha seat, how far can he go abusing the Left, with which his party has a close electoral alliance outside Kerala ? But it will make an imprudent campaigning by sparing the principal rival entirely. 

All the same, an interesting battle is unfolding in Wayanad with the BJP fielding its state president K Surendran as its contestant. The LDF has put up its prominent woman face Annie Raja, wife of CPI general secretary D Raja, as its aspirant in the seat. Gandhi won the seat with an overwhelming margin of over four lakh votes in 2019. A UDF stronghold, Gandhi is expected to sail through easily in Wayanad this time as well. 

The BJP may not be able to even create a semblance of a three-cornered fight in Wayanad. Still, the BJP will be making the contradiction in LDF and UDF positions a key theme, asserting they are rather bluffing the voters as they will be in the same camp before the last ballot is counted.

Also Read: Rahul Gandhi’s re-entry into Wayanad electoral scene irks the Left