AGENCY
NEW DELHI, May 20
As the second stint of the Left Front government under Pinarayi Vijayan completes four years in office on Tuesday (May 20) and enters its fifth year, the Left Front has set its sights on securing a third term in power.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his ministers celebrated the first day of the Left Front government’s fifth year in office by cutting a cake at the Kochi International Airport lounge. The Chief Minister cut the cake, joined by ministers K Rajan, P Rajeev, K Krishnankutty, Roshi Augustine, Kadan-nappally Ramac-handran, and KB Ganesh Kumar. The district-level anniversary celebrations, which began on April 21, will continue with elaborate programs until May 30.
In the 2021 Assembly polls, the Left Front focused its campaign on the government’s record in successfully overcoming the floods and the Covid crisis. In the next elections, the Left Front campaign will be focused on development. The Left Front will go to the next polls with the developmental narrative set by Pinarayi Vijayan. The Left government is now highlighting major infrastructure and economic achievements, such as the development of national highways (though much of the credit goes to the central government), the inauguration of the Vizhinjam port, and growth in the industrial sector, as major achievements.
The central discussion at CPI-M meetings now revolves around the prospect of the Left Front forming the government for a third consecutive term. CPI(M) state secretary MV Govindan on Tuesday said that the Left Democratic Front (LDF) has launched a battle to secure a third term in power as Kerala moves into election mode ahead of the 2026 assembly polls.
However, the Left Front is not yet ready to declare that it is out of the woods, amid concerns about what will happen if it forgets the workers and sets its sights on private capital. There is criticism that the ministers in the second Pinarayi Vijayan government are not as good as those in the first term. However, in the eyes of the party, the Chief Minister’s rating remains high. The Left Front government is facing a serious financial crisis. The state blames the central government for its financial crisis as the Centre is not increasing the borrowing limit of the state. Although welfare pensions are being paid without much delay, the salary revision process for government employees has not been initiated, and the arrears of dearness allowance and other issues have created resentment against the government among government employees and teachers.
The Opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front(UDF) hopes to win the 2026 Assembly polls and return to power after losing in the last two elections, as strong anti-government sentiments are running in all sections of people. They believe that unemployment, rising prices, and police atrocities have created resentment among all sections of the people.
Wildlife attacks on human settlements are another headache for the Left Front. The human-wildlife conflict continues to impact the daily lives of communities living near the forests. The opposition UDF is mobilising to raise this issue against the government. The hill march and other activities taken up by the UDF were part of it. The government’s defence is based on the propaganda that central laws and court judgments are the barricades to prevent wildlife attacks.
It is a fact that there is strong anti-incumbency as the Left has been in power for the last 10 years. The big question is whether the faction-ridden Congress can make use of the situation. The UDF observed the fourth anniversary of the Pinarayi Vijayan government as Black Day on Tuesday. Protest marches were held in all constituencies on Tuesday. KPCC President Sunny Joseph participated in the Black Day programme in Thiruvananthapuram, while UDF convener Adoor Prakash participated in the protest in Malappuram.
With Rajeev Chandrasekhar, a technocrat and entrepreneur, as its state unit president, the BJP is focusing on speeding up the process of altering the state’s political landscape, which remains resistant to its ideological narrative.
Kerala is one state where the BJP has slowly managed to make inroads. The Lok Sabha elections in 2024 showed that the BJP is able to capture the minds of the voters in the state, with Suresh Gopi emerging as the winner from Thrissur, earning him the distinction of being the first-ever BJP Lok Sabha MP from the state.
