Kerala awash in red; League mauled

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Marxists painted tropical Kerala red on Thursday in a reversal of what happened in 2001 when the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) got 99 of the 140 Assembly seats. The CPM-led Left Democratic Front fell short of a three-digit win by just two seats. The final score: LDF 98 and UDF 42.
It was a virtual realigning of forces and held major implications for the coalition mosaic of Kerala politics.The election results brought out three factors. One, the end of Muslim League���s hegemony over Muslim votes; two, the lack of a visionary leader in Congress; finally, that Malayali penchant to thrash incumbents is intact.
The League contested 23 seats and won just 7, unlike last time when it had bagged 16. The League, second most important party of UDF, lost the remaining seats to CPM which had earned the trust of all the communal hardliners with whom the League once broke bread with. More benumbing for the League was the fall of Goliath P K Kunhalikutty by a political David, K T Jaleel. Two other League seniors and ministers E T Mohammed Basheer and M K Muneer also lost to the CPM wave. "It is total disarray in the League camp," said M I Shanavas, PCC-I secretary.
CPM captured some 17 seats of the League in the Malabar region. The results now prove the Malabar Muslim vote isn���t a chunk that can���t be broken. "It shows the Muslim community has accepted our programmes and policies and rejected the selfish League," said CPM general secretary Pinarayi Vijayan. But the fact is the Muslim vote bank has many claimants today such as Jamaat-e-Islami, PDP, NDF and others. K Karunakaran���s dream of his party DIC(K) piggybacking on the League to victory also lies shattered. DIC(K), which wrested 18 seats from Congress, managed to win only one. Its president and Karunakaran���s son K Muralidharan lost in a League stronghold, Kuduvally. The constituency had never deserted the League and Muralidharan���s defeat proved that he was unacceptable and the League had lost credibility.
A K Antony is, as usual, clearly baffled. He says, "The result is a surprise. We were expecting a close fight." What went wrong? Two things, Antony said. "One is the CPM���s unabashed courting of communal and caste forces. The other is Kerala���s tendency to vote out a government in power." But had it not learnt a lesson in 2004 LS polls when Congress lost all seats and later in local elections which gave the Left a big win? Apparently not. Antony also brushed away a question on aligning with Karunakaran.
LDF now faces two challenges: one is deciding the CM for which there is tug-of-war between the Malabar and Travancore lobby. The other is the intense competition among minor partners whose 14 seats were wrested away by big brother CPM. The dejected smaller parties may establish contacts with sympathisers in the Congress-led UDF camp.