While the talks in the UDF have been marked by controversies, inner-party and inter-party tensions and bickering over candidate selection, the exercise has been relatively smooth for the LDF.

So bad is the situation in the Congress that KPCC president V M Sudheeran, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala are struggling to contain the revolt over candidate selection. What is causing utmost concern to the Congress leadership is the emergence of a large number of rebels in almost all districts despite efforts to avert the rebel menace.

The KPCC president is unhappy about the flouting of his directions by the district Congress leadership. For instance, Sudheeran had given express instructions to accommodate as many Youth Congress (YC) and Kerala Students Union (KSU) representatives. But the district presidents have by and large ignored his directives.

That the situation is serious can be gauged from the fact that Youth Congress State president Dean Kuriakose himself has voiced his anger over the district and local party leadership fielding candidates who have contested many a time in the past, ignoring the genuine claims of YC activists. In sheer disgust YC vice-president C R Mahesh has resigned, but efforts are on to persuade him to withdraw his resignation. The YC State Committee has sent a fresh list of 78 prospective YC candidates to the KPCC chief and the AICC leadership.

As if this was not enough the A and the I groups in the Congress have locked horns in several districts. The tussle is most pronounced in Thrissur district where the daughter of Cooperation Minister C N Balakrishnan, a prominent I group leader, was projected as the Mayor candidate. But due to stiff opposition she would be fielded in a ward of the Thrissur Corporation.

The picture emerging from Malappuram district, the stronghold of the powerful Congress ally, the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) is equally worrisome for the UDF. The bone of contention has been the IUML’s decision to field its candidates in 22 out of the 32 district panchayats. But the Congress has opposed what it called the IUML’s unilateral and arrogant decision. And the two parties are wrangling bitterly over 15 panchayats. Talks to avert an open contest have failed so far. And both the Congress and IUML leaders now seem reconciled to ‘friendly contests’ in several seats.

The Congress-IUML friction has enthused the LDF, particularly the CPI(M) which hopes to make significant inroads into the IUML fortress this time around.

Another powerful ally of the Congress, the Kerala Congress (Mani), has also toughened its stance in the seat-sharing talks. KC(M) chief and Finance Minister K M Mani has insisted on his party being given more seats in Kottayam district. But the Congress has said a firm no, ratcheting up tensions. It may be mentioned that the UDF had made a clean sweep of the district in 2010 by winning 10 out of 11 block divisions, 57 out of 73 gram panchayats and three out of four municipalities. The KC(M) is demanding more seats this time on the ground that the party is much stronger now after the merger of the PJ Joseph faction in the KC(M). But the Congress is in no mood to oblige the former. The LDF expects to make a few gains from this unseemly tussle between the Congress and the KC(M) in the UDF stronghold.

Even the Revolutionary Socialist Party(RSP is angry over the raw deal meted out to it in the seat-sharing talks. An angry RSP unit in Kozhikode district has, in a huff, decided to align with the opposition LDF to settle scores with the ‘arrogant’ Congress leadership! The RSP is in a rebellious mood in its stronghold, Kollam as well.

Likewise, the JD(U), another ally of the Congress is sore over the step-motherly treatment of the party by the Congress. The JD(U) can upset the calculations of the Congress in both Kozhikode and Wayanad districts where the party has considerable influence.

In comparison, the talks on sharing seats in the LDF were comparatively smooth. The only irritant has been the CPI(M)’s thoughtless decision to field two of its leaders, Karayi Rajan and Karayi Chadrashekharan, accused in the case of murder of Popular Front of India(PFI) worker, Mohammed Fazal, in the local bodies elections.

The decision, learnt to have been taken by Polit Buro member, Pinarayi Vijayan, has touched off a controversy even within the party. Kannur CPI(M) leaders feel it could become a powerful weapon in the hands of the UDF, which is pulling out all the stops to make gains in the CPI(M) fortress this time around. It must be noted that leader of the opposition, V. S. Achuthanandan has maintained an eloquent silence on the decision. It is clear that VS has not liked the decision one bit. The ill-advised move could affect the CPI(M)’s prospects in Kannur, it is being pointed out.

Last but not the least, the BJP is hoping to make its presence felt this time around. The party will field its candidates in several districts. The party will have local understanding with community organisations like the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (SNDP), a move which has drawn all-round flak. The BJP feels the political winds is blowing in their favour following the party’s spectacular show in the Aruvikkara by-election in which party candidate O Rajagopal polled an astounding 32,000 votes, a six-fold rise from the BJP tally in the assembly elections in 2011. The lotus will definitely bloom in Kerala, a known secular bastion, assert party activists and leaders now that the BJP has the backing of the SNDP, the powerful organization of the predominant Ezhava community, which constitutes 27 per cent of the state’s population. (IPA Service)