When enlightened Kerala delivers its verdict
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As per schedule, a majority of the over 2.71 crore voters will turn up at polling booths tomorrow to elect members to the 16th Kerala Legislative Assembly. Although around 17.7 lakh Keralite voters are in the Gulf, it must be assumed that most of them will not be able to travel home to cast their votes due to the prevailing war situation. Compared to the 2021 Assembly elections, the general assessment is that there is much more heat, excitement, and anxiety this time. In its first term, the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government led by Pinarayi Vijayan earned considerable goodwill through addressing public issues and carrying out development activities. As a result, the people of Kerala extended wholehearted support, allowing the government to continue for another five years for the first time in the state’s history. Now, highlighting the achievements of his government over the past decade, despite adverse circumstances, as well as the development projects implemented, Pinarayi Vijayan and the LDF are seeking public support for a third term in power. Meanwhile, the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) is urging the people to vote for change, listing what it describes as the failures of the past five years of governance. The opposition alleges that the corruption, maladministration, and anti-people policies that led to the loss of decades-long rule of the CPI(M)-led Left Front in West Bengal and Tripura are now beginning to repeat in Kerala as well. They argue, citing examples, that while the 2016–21 cabinet was relatively better, the second cabinet formed by Pinarayi Vijayan, comprising only those who fully fall in line with his directives, has demonstrated inefficiency and poor governance. Therefore, they contend, change is inevitable if Kerala is to avoid becoming a state like Bengal.
It is also generally assessed that the Chief Minister, who is no longer as energetic as before due to age and health issues, has failed to identify capable successors to take charge in his absence, which indicates either helplessness or a lack of trust in his colleagues. At the same time, the emergence of personality cults and a style of leadership centred around “captaincy”, which has no precedent among earlier leaders of the communist movement, is being criticised as a shift towards bourgeois culture. During this election campaign, while the opposition fronts widely deployed star campaigners from the national level, some point out the helplessness of the ruling front in having to rely largely on a single “star leader” for its campaign. Because of this, there are also many within the Left itself who believe that, in the next phase, it would be beneficial for the CPI(M) and its allies to function as a more energetic opposition. It is also impossible to lose sight of the serious damage inflicted on Kerala’s traditional communal harmony and religious tolerance by the intense exchange of communal allegations and counter-allegations that dominated campaigning during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, as well as the subsequent Assembly by-elections and local body elections.
After concluding that the loss of support from influential religious minorities led to their defeat in the Lok Sabha and local elections, both of which were swept by the UDF, the CPI(M) shifted its campaign to target majority community support. Recent days have seen examples of how such campaigns were more aggressively amplified by Hindutva forces, who thus became their natural beneficiaries. The Chief Minister, CPI(M) leaders, and spokespersons have consistently campaigned on the claim that they oppose both majority and minority communalism equally, while accusing the UDF of maintaining ties with certain minority organisations that themselves admit to having very limited influence. Considering the potential to attract majority votes, the extreme right has now been seen attempting to gain the upper hand by branding some Muslim organisations as pro-Pakistan and consolidating Hindu votes. In recent times, there have also been voices demanding the removal from roads of the name of Tipu Sultan, a ruler who fought bravely against British imperialism and became a martyr, and insisting that only a Hindu candidate should represent Guruvayur. Such calls reflect an attempt to vitiate the communal atmosphere and win votes through division. If those who enabled this fail to recognise that they are sowing the wind to reap the whirlwind, it can only be described as a case of misguided thinking in times of impending danger. One can hope that the enlightened electorate of Kerala will apply their mind carefully while exercising their voting rights to protect “God’s Own Country” from communal polarisation and pave the way for a just, corruption-free, and development-oriented governance.
