Voters in Kerala on Monday rejected the Communist Party of India-led Left Democratic Front’s bid to return for a third consecutive term with the alliance winning just 35 of the state’s 140 seats, its worst performance in more than four decades.
The results mean that the Left Front will not come to power in any Indian state for the first time since 1977. After losing power in West Bengal in 2011, it suffered a setback in Tripura in 2018.
Meanwhile, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has sent his resignation letter from his post as chief minister to the state’s governor, Rajendra Arlikar, a person familiar with the matter confirmed.
LDF’s ‘Nava Keralam’ bid failed
The LDP, which began its current stint in power in 2016 by winning 91 seats out of 140, repeated the feat in 2021 with a larger mandate of 99 seats. This victory was the first time a state government had been re-elected in four decades, and was built largely on the LDF’s ability to expand its social base beyond its core Hindu voter base to include Muslims and Christians, its strong welfare base and Vijayan’s image as a tough and effective administrator.
Five years later, the LDF’s campaign to continue building ‘Nava Keralam’ (New Kerala) under Vijayan’s leadership has failed to find common ground with large sections of the electorate. Middle-class dissatisfaction with rising inflation and unemployment among the educated youth, coupled with allegations by senior CPI(M) leaders involved in the gold theft case related to the Lord Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala, as well as perceptions of the party leadership deviating from basic principles, are seen as having contributed to the defeat..
Vijayan cruises despite LDF loss
Vijayan’s performance in Dharmadam constituency in Kannur district was reflective of the public sentiment. Although he ultimately won by 19,247 votes, the first seven rounds of counting saw him fall behind his younger rival in Congress, Vice President Abdul Rashid. The margin of victory was a sharp decline from Vijayan’s 2021 margin of victory by more than 50,000 voters.
Thirteen of the 19 ministers in the state government were defeated.
Three of the four CPI ministers – K Rajan, P Prasad and GR Anil – won along with Public Works Minister Mohammad Riyas in Beypore and Culture and Fisheries Minister Saj Cherian in Chengannur.
Read also: Election results explain the reasons behind the swing in votes in Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Assam
The LDF’s loss was compounded by defeats in its strongholds in districts like Kannur and Alappuzha. Former Communist Party of India minister G Sudhakaran, who contested as a UDF-backed rebel in Ambalapuzha, defeated the party’s official candidate H Salam by 27,935 votes. In Payyannur and Taliparamba enclaves, two seats the party had not lost since 1977, CPI(M) candidates were defeated by its rebels in Konnikrishnan and TK Govindan respectively.
“The LDF’s defeat in the Assembly elections was unexpected. The party accepts the ruling and promises to take measures to correct possible wrongs,” the Communist Party of India’s state secretariat said in a statement.
“The defeat boils down to internal turmoil within the CPI(M) and the LDF against the way Pinarayi Vijayan was leading the party and the government,” said G Prabhash, a former professor of political science at Kerala University. “Both of them led in an anti-communist way. The party and the government have been reduced to a clique. Vijayan himself has become the party, the government and the central authority… If the CPI(Maoist) understands this, and corrects the mistakes, it can.” Vijayan has done enormous damage to the CPI(M) (M) By preventing the emergence of a second degree of leadership.
