Assembly battle closing in; semi-final result crucial; all fronts eyeing local body election results

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With the assembly elections just five months away, today is the semi-final results day for the fronts. The graph of victories and defeats will help them plan their strategies in the remaining days.

The district panchayat, municipal and corporation results will be a reflection of the current political support. The Left Front has the dream of a third term. UDF knows that a comeback will be difficult if it has to sit on the opposition bench again. The BJP, which has won one seat in the Lok Sabha, will be shamed if it does not have at least one leader in the assembly. It is from these realizations that the fronts and political observers view the local body results.

The UDF has been talking about front expansion for a long time. It is known that some small parties close to the Left have held unofficial talks with the UDF leadership. At the same time, some parties in the UDF are worried that they will become completely irrelevant if they do not get the governance this time. They are reportedly thinking of joining the left if invited

Issues in all three fronts

Although the CPI is unhappy with the PM SHRI and Labour Code issues, the party leadership is repeating that the front is united. The CPI is also uneasy about the attitude of the CPM. The Kerala Congress Mani group is worried that its future will be dark if there is a setback in the elections. The CPM also knows that the damage caused by the Sabarimala gold scam is not small.

The League, a major ally of the UDF, is concerned that the internal strife in the Congress is disrupting the flow of power. It is unthinkable to be out of power for another five years. The RSP is also unhappy with the current situation. Rahul Mamkootathil issue was an unexpected blow to the Congress. Even though Rahul was expelled, a section still supports him, which is causing disarray among the workers. The competition among leaders to become the chief ministerial candidate is another headache.

Meanwhile, the BDJS has complained that it is not receiving due consideration from the NDA. Some BJP leaders also express their frustration that the state president is taking decisions alone. They feel that irregularities in the selection of corporation candidates will affect the results.