The verdict in Kerala on 4 May was not just a vote for change. Nor merely an expression of anti-incumbency as many commentators had you think. It was also a rejection of the divisive politics of the BJP, which did its damnedest to split the vote on communal lines. The party still managed 11.4 per cent of the vote—signalling that the rot may have set in here too—but it wasn’t enough to deliver any more than the three seats it managed. Three seats too many, for many Keralans. 

The Congress-led UDF (United Democratic Front) secured a decisive 102 seats in the 140-member assembly and the CPI(M)-led LDF (Left Democratic Front) saw a big contraction. That contraction was in large measure a verdict on outgoing chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s style of functioning—the cult of personality and the extreme concentration of power in his own hands as also his attempts to make nice with the BJP to stay afloat. It took seven rounds of counting for Vijayan to establish a lead in Left citadel Dharmadam and his final margin of victory was much slimmer than the 50,000 votes in 2021. Thirteen of his cabinet ministers lost.

For a long time, factionalism had been the bane of the Congress in Kerala, often spilling into the public domain. And while contesting personal ambitions did again surface after the results, in the run-up to the elections, the party held together. Candidate selection, always a fraught affair, was handled with remarkable smoothness. No public altercations, no competing lists, no late-stage rebellions. 

This unity was not accidental; it was managed with care. Party general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal and Ramesh Chennithala took the lead in handling dissent, engaging with aspirants and ensuring that grievances were resolved internally. The emphasis was clear and consistent: winnability would override factional claims. That message stuck. 

This rare........

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