Kerala Elections 2021: Who are the key players?
After a whopping two-third win by the Left Democratic Front (LDF) in the last assembly elections in 2016, this year all the eyes are again on the left-wing coalition of Left Democratic Front (LDF) led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPIM) and center-left wing coalition of United Democratic Front (UDF) led by the Indian National Congress (INC). In the last four decades, LDF and UDF have been in power alternatively. Currently, the Left Democratic Front is in power, with the government led by Pinarayi Vijayan.
The LDF coalition consists of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Communist Party of India (CPI), Kerala Congress (M), and other smaller parties. The CPI(M) will be contesting for 85 seats out of which 12 seats will be contested by women candidates. The CPI will contest for 25 seats and Kerala Congress for 13 seats. K. K. Shailaja, Health Minister of Kerala has turned out to be the star campaigner for the the left, after her effective management of the COIVD-19 pandemic that struck Kerala.
The United Democratic Front (UDF) is an alliance of center and center-left political parties. The key political parties under UDF are the Indian National Congress (INC) and the Indian Union Muslim League.
The National Democratic Alliance's (NDA) Kerala unit was constituted in 2016, which is a coalition of right-wing political parties in the state. Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) and Bharath Dharma Jana Seva (BDJS) are two prominent political parties along with various smaller parties.
Most of the coalition parties under LDF announced their list of their candidates on Wednesday, gaining a lead over the United Democratic Front (UDF). The resignation of PC Chacko and his allegations of groupism against the top leaders in the Indian National Congress has raised a question of the integrity of the candidate selection process.
The polls conducted by some of the media, organizations suggest the lead of LDF over its rivals by a small margin. The last day for filing the nomination of the candidates is March 19. Kerala begins its polling on April 4. According to the Election Commission of India, the counting of the polls will be held on May 2.