E-Paper
The political importance of Kerala | HT Editorial
While the BJP may improve its vote share in the state, the outcome in Kerala is important because it will determining the balance of power within the broad national Opposition
The Left Front, particularly the Communist Party of India (Marxist), was often, only half in jest, referred to as a regional party which spanned across the regions of Tripura, West Bengal, Kerala and the campus of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in Delhi. The Left lost power in Bengal in 2011 and has become so marginal in the state’s polity that it will be lucky to come a distant third this time around. It lost power to its arch ideological rival, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in Tripura in 2018. And so it is in only Kerala that this regional force has control over the power structure.
The state is also critical for the Congress, for Kerala offers the best chance for the party to come to power. (In Assam, it is a key stakeholder but surveys suggest it will fail to oust the incumbent). Kerala has seen, for four decades, a pattern where voters alternate between the two key forces in the state led by the Left and the Congress. Going by this conventional parameter, the success of the Congress in the 2019 elections, and Rahul Gandhi’s personal stakes (he is a parliamentarian from Wayanad), this election should have been an easy win for the Congress. But the Left, under chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, has succeeded in projecting an image of effective governance and service delivery in a range of areas, including health and during natural disasters. It has also carved out a broad coalition.
While the BJP may improve its vote share in the state, the outcome in Kerala is important because it will determining the balance of power within the broad national Opposition, especially between Congress and non-Congress forces.
