Kerala Assembly Elections | Frenzied campaign for UDF and NDA; LDF stays low-key

The Congress and the BJP have attempted to wrest the electoral narrative from the LDF by deploying national-level influencers.

A galaxy of high-profile BJP and Congress leaders has descended on Kerala in a last-minute bid to turn the tide of the electoral battle against the LDF government. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Union Ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Prakash Javadekar and Smriti Irani, BJP national president J. P. Nadda, and others have gone on whirlwind tours covering large swathes of the State. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has spearheaded the UDF election campaign. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Sachin Pilot, Salman Khurshid, Jairam Ramesh, A.K. Antony and Shashi Tharoor lend leverage to the UDF’s election pitch. The LDF had approached the poll campaign with a measure of confidence initially. At least three pre-poll surveys had given the ruling front an edge over its rivals. The LDF’s emphatic win in the local body polls in 2020 had imbued it with a degree of confidence. However, the surge of crowds at BJP and Congress rallies has prompted the LDF to strike a more guarded approach in the campaign’s final stretch. Tellingly, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has cautioned LDF workers against placing undue trust in pollsters and asked them to guard against overconfidence.