The counting of the local body polls in Kerala has reached to its final lap and already the ruling LDF party led by the Kerala CM Pinaray Vijayan gained a clear edge. This is such an important victory for the LDF who have been deserted by several members of its party leaving Vijayan as the lone face of the government.
Of course, in the 2019 LS polls, the same LDF received a major setback as they have won only one in 20 Parliamentary seats. However, this time it’s a whole different game. The Pinaray led LDF party has shown its mettle in village, block, district panchayats, municipal and corporation councils in Kerala and repeated the same feat they did in 2015 and of course increased their tally of vote and seats as well.
There have been so many allegations on the CM Pinaray Vijayan whose office has been in the thick of the gold smuggling scandal. Even the party state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan has been forced to go on leave after his son was jailed in a drug case. The situation is completely adverse for the ruling party.
So, how did Pinaray manage to secure a grand victory in the polls? While the opposition is solely focused on criticising the government and the controversies, Vijayan treated a whole different pathway. His electioneering was based on welfare schemes, which have been fattened under his regime, and several grassroots-level intervention, including housing for the poor.
Hence the victory at ground level politics.
