Everyone wants seat thinking that victory is easy

For the simple fact that Kerala returns rival fronts for governance alternatively, clamour for seats in the UDF is more fervent than that in the LDF.

There are any number of candidates for the Congress Party who want to try it out at the hustings. And the party would like to field as many candidates as possible. But the alliance partners also want to fleece maximum out of the available treasure.

Who can blame 92-year-old K.R.Gowri Amma if she wants to try her luck this time as well? But she wants Congress Party to ensure her victory by providing her a safe seat.

As for M.V.Raghavan, he may not speak much for more seats and all. But he would surely be a candidate.

This time, IUML could be an alliance partner which is comparably safer for the Congress to handle. The harshest bargain could be from Kerala Congress (M) which claims that its strength has skyrocketed following the merger of the P.J.Joseph faction with it.

The Joseph group candidates would all be former Ministers in the V.S.Achuthanandan ministry. This is precisely something that worries the Congress in their Assembly constitutencies. Media give out the feeling that everything is smooth and safe for Mons Joseph.

During the Kerala Mochana Yatra trail, the leaders’ pictures that were splashed around in the constituency had his face cut out by interested parties. The rebels are there aplenty, as elsewhere in many places. All the same, they feel comfortable going with the UDF.

In the LDF camp, the picture is something of confidence after the new revelations in the ice cream parlour case, imprisonment of R.Balakrishna Pillai, attempt to drag in Oommen Chandy in the palmolein case etc.

Then will there be the same scenario with V.S.Achuthanandan leading the flock, even as the CPM party power holders are opposed to him?

The UDF and LDF situation offers food for thought for the electorate.