Congress leaders KC Venugopal, Shashi Tharoor, Ramesh Chennithala, Kodikunnil Suresh, Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan and others celebrate the UDF’s victory in the Kerala Assembly elections at Indira Bhavan in Thiruvananthapuram on May 4, 2026. Nirmal Harindran | Photo credit: Nirmal Harindran
Congress led victory United Democratic Front it corresponds in intensity and depth to the defeat of the Communist Party of India (Marxists). Left Democratic Front in Kerala. The winners can take an immediate lesson from the loser: that Kerala’s signature disapproval of an über-leader who outshines his own party and keeps the spotlight firmly on himself. Outbound Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan he made this election all about himself. The LDF’s campaign slogan was “Who but LDF”, with Mr. Vijayan as the only face that loomed large in impressively large crowds across the state. The UDF’s campaign, on the other hand, was a team effort of unprecedented synergy among its leaders – a fact that was underlined by all after the victory. The UDF and its supporters must now resist the temptation to emulate Pinarayi’s model of leadership.
In a surprising departure from Left tradition, her campaign – much like her government for the last 10 years – revolved around the personality of Mr Vijayan, leaving little room for the CPI(M)’s own long-term internal processes of collective decision-making. No other proof is required than the fact that at least six senior party leaders have left the CPI(M) and opposed supporting the UDF in these elections; three of them won. It is also clear that CPI(M) workers defected to the party and voted for the UDF in large numbers, as the results in party strongholds – including some in Kannur district – clearly show. Mr. Vijayan himself trailed in the first rounds of counting in his own constituency, a party stronghold. The degeneration in the LDF has so unsettled its own sympathizers that Malayalam writer K. Satchidanandan – a lifelong fellow traveler of the Left – has publicly declared that he wishes the LDF would lose power this time. Ultimately, the claim of inevitability around Mr. Vijayan is the single most important factor that caused the LDF. A historical feature of the LDF government has historically been the party’s control over the government. The centralization of power in the chief minister over the past 10 years has weakened the role of the party’s intermediary in politics and governance.
Published – May 5, 2026 01:13 IST
