Elections to the 140-seat Kerala assembly will be held in three phases -- on April 22, 29 and May 3. In many ways the polls reflect the national political contradictions.
The rival fronts -- the opposition Left Democratic Front led by the Marxists and the ruling Congress-led United Democratic Front -- are on the streets accusing each other of stalling Kerala's developments, and promising better days ahead.
Ironically, the Left parties, which are on a collision course with the Congress in the state, support the Congress-led Manmohan Singh government at the Centre.
Likewise, the Janata Dal-Secular, which in Karnataka supports the state government headed by the Bharatiya Janata Party, is a partner of -- hold your breath -- the Communists.
The Nationalist Congress Party led by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar is also supporting the Left in Kerala, while backing the Congress at the Centre.
Is your head spinning? Want a glass of cold water? Worry not, rediff.com puts together all the pieces of the Kerala jigsaw for your benefit. Read on.
Who are the United Democratic Front partners?
The Congress leads the UDF that is now in power under the leadership of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy. The other partners are the Kerala Congress (Mani), Janathipathya Samrakshana Samiti, Kerala Congress (B), Communist Marxist Party, Revolutionary Socialist Party (Shibu faction) and Revolutionary Socialist Party (Babu Divakaran faction).
And the Left Democratic Front partners
The LDF is right now in the Opposition and is headed by the Communist Party of India-Marxist. Its other partners are the Communist Party of India, Janata Dal-Secular, Kerala Congress-J, Revolutionary Socialist Party, Nationalist Congress Party, Indian National League, Kerala Congress-S and Congress-S.
Who are the chief ministerial candidates?
Chief Minister Chandy for the UDF. The LDF's candidate will come from the CPM, the largest partner. But the CPM leadership says it is not projecting any chief ministerial candidate before the polls. However, opposition leader and Marxist veteran V S Achuthanandan is widely perceived as their chief ministerial candidate.
But isn't CPM state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan in the race too?
Till the elections were announced, Vijayan was the frontrunner for the chief minister's post. But the 83-year-old Achuthanandan, who managed to convince the party politburo to give him a seat, thus turned the tables on Vijayan. Vijayan is not contesting, mainly because of the corruption charges leveled against him from the time when he was the electricity minister during the last LDF regime in 1996-2001.
Where does the breakaway Congress party, of former chief minister K Karunakaran, stand?
The Democratic Indira Congress-Karunakaran, which was formed in May, was supporting the LDF till last month. But Achuthanandan and his supporters so vehemently opposed Karunakaran's entry into the LDF that DIC-K has been forced to clinch a seat-sharing deal with the UDF.
Are you saying Karunakaran is back with the party he broke away from?
Yes. The UDF has allocated 18 seats to Karunakaran's party, with a condition that after the elections, Karunakaran will merge his party with the Congress.
Will it happen?
Unlikely. The main reason being Chief Minister Chandy's reluctance to invite Karunakaran into the UDF fold. Though Chandy is currently toeing the high command's line, he still sees Karunakaran as an albatross.
Has the UDF gained from the alliance with DIC-K?
Leave alone strengthening it, political observers say Karunakaran's re-entry into the UDF has only worsened the coalition's poll prospects. Local Congress leaders are dead against Karunakaran and his son K Muraleedharan joining hands with their party. A number of Congress leaders are contesting as rebels after the party denied them seats.
And where does former chief minister A K Antony stand in all this?
Antony has gone nowhere. He is very much in the thick of things, campaigning with vigour. In fact, it was Antony who convinced the Congress high command to bring back Karunakaran into the UDF fold.
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Is the election a fight between just these two fronts -- UDF and LDF? What about the BJP?
More or less. For the past three decades, Kerala has been voting one of these two fronts to power.
The BJP is the third largest political entity in Kerala. But so far, it has not been able to win even a single assembly seat from the state.
So how does the road ahead look like for the saffron party?
Bleak. Though the BJP is contesting all the 140 seats, it is unlikely to win any. The BJP in Kerala is not a cohesive party, with various local leaders like P S Sreedharan Pillai, P Mukundan and former Union minister O Rajagopal fighting among each other.
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