‘Comrades’ lock horns in Kerala campaign

The front runners — the United Democratic Front (UDF) and the Left Democratic Front (LDF) — are beating the weather not merely for a seat but also to save their honour.

Kerala’s most keenly watched electoral battle between the friends-turned foes has gained national attention as the outcome will have its repercussions at the national level too. A win for NK Premachandran of Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) will lead to the queer situation of the Kerala unit of the party batting for the UPA and the national unit opposing it. M.A Baby of CPM, which leads the Left parties, is trying to avert such an unpleasant situation by pulling out all stops to defeat Premachandran, who entered the fray as a UDF candidate after his party quit the LDF over denial of ticket and joined the ruling coalition in the run up to the election.

With UDF fully rallying behind Premachandran, the battle is now for Left votes. Premachandran, who won the seat twice in 1996 and 1998 and the Chavara assembly segment in 2006, holds considerable sway over the Left votes. Though the arithmetic favours the RSP candidate, the scene in the battle field is not rosy.

Baby, a former minister and a politburo member, has made his made Premachandran sweat by turning the confusion among the RSP cadres over the split between its national and state units to his advantage. He is also successfully using the words used by his former cabinet colleague to criticize the UDF government to embarrass his rival.

Baby has put Premachandran, who was the most vocal critic of the UDF government in general and Chief Minister Oommen Chandy in particular, on the defensive by raising the scams and scandals he criticized most. Though the RSP has succeeded in keeping the party cadre together by raising the humiliation meted out to them by the CPM, the party is still not able to convince the Left supporters.

news@khaleejtimes.com

• India