Development crushes propaganda in Kerala polls

Kerala has one of the best local body governance systems in the country, where decentralisation of administration has been carried out with razor-sharp precision and efficacy. The involvement of the local bodies, irrespective of their political affiliation, was evidently played out in Kerala, especially when the state faced calamities, writes K Praveen Kumar, senior journalist.

When the voting pattern in the country in recent elections largely reflected a caste/religious polarisation, the voting pattern in the local body elections in Kerala comes as a welcome relief. The divisional tactics played by BJP and a supportive role played by the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) failed to evoke any positive result in the local body elections where people seemed to have voted for the developmental works carried out by the CPM led Left Democratic Front government.

The thumping victory by the LDF in Kerala is a shot in the arm for the LDF government which would be facing Assembly elections within the next four to five months.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was the poster figure in the LDF campaign and their slogan was 'Vote for development'. No government in Kerala had faced such a combined attack against its leaders in recent times. When a large section of the media along with BJP and Congress carried out a hate campaign, mostly based on half baked facts and misinformation, the government struggled to keep its voice heard in the public, especially during days close to the three phases of Local Body polls.

However, the results show that the combined opposition had failed to mask the social welfare schemes and developmental works carried out by the present regime in the Local Body election, where the public largely discussed matters closer to their daily life.

LDF will be ruling three out of the six Corporations with a clear cut majority and they may snatch power in two more Corporations – Kochi and Thrissur - with possible support from the independents and rebels. When it comes to 14 District Panchayats, LDF has improved its 2015 figures and has won 10 of them. It had won only 7 during the 2015 elections. When it comes to Municipalities, the only segment where LDF could not make a grand claim of success, it has won 35 out of 86 Municipalities. Here BJP led National Democratic Alliance, managed to won one more municipality, taking their count to two, compared to the 2015 elections.

UDF has an upper hand in Municipality segment as they managed to win 45 Municipalities and the fate of four Municipalities hangs in the hands of independent candidates.

LDF has won in 112 Block Panchayats out of 152. LDF had only won 89 Block Panchayats during 2015 elections. UDF has only managed to win in 40 Block Panchayats so far and the results of remaining are awaited.

Out of 941 Gram Panchayats, LDF has won 514 and UDF has secured 377 and NDA 22. Independents and other smaller parties have secured 28 Grama Panchayats.

Kerala has one of the best local body governance systems in the country, where decentralisation of administration has been carried out with razor-sharp precision and efficacy. The involvement of the local bodies, irrespective of their political affiliation, was evidently played out in Kerala, especially when the state faced calamities. The public witnessed the effectiveness of such a decentralised system of administration when Nipah virus outbreak shook the state first.

Micro-level intervention by the local self-government again during the time of the devastating floods in Kerala, cemented the trust of people in the efficiency of the present government further. When the whole world stood clueless about the methods to fight the Covid pandemic, Kerala again shot to limelight with its micromanagement in controlling the pandemic.

The present ruling dispensation is reaping the benefits of its visionary intervention during these trying times. It was the first state to announce a Rs. 20,000 Crore relief package as early as in February, just within weeks of reporting the first Covid case in the country. It made sure that nobody living in Kerala would go hungry following the lock-down and loss in wage days and established community kitchens across the state. Regular provisional supplies were ensured to each and every home, irrespective of their financial status.

It increased the old age pension amount and launched several social welfare scheme and relief fund models for different segments of working-class society. It brought together social organisations, philanthropists and NGOs under one umbrella and coordinated all relief efforts. When such a massive involvement was all evident right in front of the eyes of the voters, it was very difficult for the LDF government to spare poorly in the Local Body elections.

The Local Body election results also throw up the peculiar political conundrum in Kerala. When the results are welcome administratively and to some extent politically, it also exhibits a trend that is akin to the trends that the political landscape of India has been witnessing of late- the rise of BJP. Though BJP could not make huge inroads in to the democratic system in Kerala, its increasing presence in the political psyche of Kerala is becoming more evident. On the other hand, the decline of Congress, which many other Congress-strong states in the country had witnessed in recent times, is too evident to overlook.

Congress was dismissed to a dismal 3rd place in the Trivandrum Corporation, which is the heart of political capital of the state. It was reduced to just 10 wards while BJP secured 35 wards in the 100 ward strong Corporation Council. LDF will continue its ruling of the Corporation by improving its 2015 figure of 43 to 52 in 2020.

BJP's sole aim in this election was to snatch power at Trivandrum Corporation and a grand plan for this was conceptualised at the behest of its leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The plan, however, fell flat, and BJP has to satisfy with the same tally that they secured during the 2015 elections. However, BJP managed to win one ward for the first time in Kannur Corporation and managed to improve its tally both in Grama Panchayats and in Municipalities. The words of K Surendran, BJP's State President, echoed what the party's national leaders have been speaking in other Indian states, that Kerala too is becoming 'Çongress Mukth' (Without Congress). In a press conference on Wednesday, Surendran said BJP would be the main opposition to LDF in Kerala in the coming Assembly elections.

Lack of strong leadership for Congress in Kerala is affecting the prospects of the party very badly in Kerala. Added to this is the raging group clashes and ego clashes among its leadership. The lack of political acumen of the Congress leadership was evident in LDF scoring a brownie point by pulling out Kerala Congress (M), a trusted ally of UDF for decades. The presence of Kerala Congress (M) helped LDF to sweep the Local Body polls in Kottayam, Pathanamthitta and in some parts of Idukki, all considered the strong-forts of UDF. UDF's present statistics, which are almost similar to the 2015 elections, heavily dependent on the vote bank of Indian Union Muslim League, which is having an undisputed upper hands in Districts like Malappuram, Kasaragod and Wayanad.

Another silver lining in this election is the great acceptance of younger candidates by the voters. All the political fronts have fielded young candidates, some as young as 21 and most of them have managed to win over their older counterparts. Most of the Mayor candidates fielded by political fronts, who are considerably older, were defeated by younger opposition candidates, indicating a clear formation of a political opinion in favour young blood.

It is also evident that voters are keenly watching the political statements made by the taller leaders of parties while giving their verdict. LDF managed to win Puthupally Panchayat, the constituency of former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, which the Congress had been ruling for the last 25 years. LDF candidate also won in the ward of Mullapally Ramachandran, KPCC president and also at the ward of Ramesh Chennithala, Opposition Leader.

To sum up, Kerala voters seemed to have done good homework before they headed towards the polling centres during this election. Despite the hate campaigns, political allegations of corruption and nepotism, LDF managed to convey its goals of development to the grassroots level voter. Social media played a crucial role in the dissemination of information and unconventional media houses like digital media platforms also played a deciding role in helping the voters to put the performance of the local self-governments and the State Government in perspective.

The prominence of Pinarayi Vijayan as an undisputed and tallest leader in Kerala CPM has become evident once again and LDF would be marching towards the Assembly elections with renewed confidence. UDF and the NDA camps will have to search for more potential weapons to stop a possible second consecutive term for the present regime.