Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

UDF fails to reverse trend of defeats

Girish Menon

Election debacle outcome of a massive shift in Muslim votes across the State

Thiruvananthapuram: The electoral debacle of the United Democratic Front (UDF) is the outcome of a massive shift in Muslim votes, a trend that started in 2003.

The shift in Muslim votes could be seen across the State and was not restricted to Malappuram, the heartland of the Indian Union Muslim League where the party had to take the severest drubbing in any Assembly elections in recent times. Anti-incumbency factor also appears to have done the UDF in. The UDF's last-minute alliance with the DIC(K) also did not fetch it any political dividend. In fact, the inability of the Congress to experiment with new faces mainly because it had to carry the baggage of a split also contributed to the party's dismal show.

The Congress had to accommodate several candidates who were earlier in the Karunakaran camp as a reward for them staying put in the party.

As a result, there was hardly any scope for it to experiment with new and fresh faces in several constituencies to overcome the shifts of electoral politics. The DIC(K) alliance in 17 seats did not have popular appeal, and the sole victor, Thomas Chandy, from the Kuttanad seat, won owing to extraneous reasons.

As far as the IUML is concerned, the defeat of its State general secretary, P.K. Kunhalikutty, represents a popular reprimand to the brand of politics that the party has been pursuing under his leadership in the past five years. The IUML had always played out its role as an umbrella to various sections in the Muslim community. The perception that political power was concentrated in the hands of a few gained ground in the past few years. Several sections such as the Sunnis got alienated from the IUML when it no longer represented their interests.

The IUML leadership, on its part, made valiant attempts to bring back these sections, but as the electoral verdict from Malappuram shows, it has miserably failed to achieve its objectives. The CPI(M) is perceived as an alternative force that will be capable of addressing Muslim issues. The most surprising aspect of the election results is the massive margins that the LDF candidates have won in a majority of seats. Except in a few seats, the winning margins have been more than 5,000 votes on an average.

The winning margins show that the UDF, particularly the Congress and the IUML, will have to go through an excruciating period to regain its lost ground. The UDF's development agenda also did not enthuse the electorate, particularly the Hindu community. Organisations such as the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam did not conceal their disenchantment with the UDF's positions on social justice and development.

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