THE Pattom ward in Thiruvananthapuram Corporation has a story to tell. Here a friendly contest has been taking place between the Congress candidate and Kerala Congress (Mani) nominee.  KPCC president VM Sudheeran resides and has a vote in this ward itself. This shows the bad predicament that the Congress led UDF has been facing in the state in the local body election scheduled to be held on November 2 and 5.  During the seat sharing discussion, the district Congress committee had set aside the ward for KC(M). Meanwhile, KPCC president VM Sudheeran conceded to pressure from local Congress leaders and urged the Congress nominee to file nomination. It was Sudheeran who inaugurated the election convention of Congress candidate Rajalakshmi.  This has irked KC (M) leaders.  Because of the open rebellion, the UDF is in shambles in the state. Women Congress workers have even staged a dawn-to- dusk sit in at the KPCC office. In Thiruvananthapuram district, some of the rebel candidates had forcefully entered the DCC office and snatched away the official letter-pad and acquired the official symbol. In all the six corporations, official Congress candidates have been facing rebels. In Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, Congress is facing five rebel candidates. Youth Congress district leader Mudavanmugal Satheesh refused to withdraw nomination against K Maheswaran Nair, mayoral candidate of the Congress, at Mudavanmugal. Another mayoral candidate, Johnson Joseph has also faced a rebel at Uloor.

The situation in Kochi Corporation is worse, with three sitting councilors and wife of a sitting councilor contesting as rebels against official candidates of the Congress. Majority of the rebels are from west Kochi region. The Congress is facing a rebel threat at least in nine divisions of Thrissur Corporation, which is ruled by the UDF. In Kozhikode district, at least 50 rebels are in the fray. In Kozhikode Corporation also, the  situation is similar. DCC member Ramesh Nambiath is contesting against CMP candidate Madhav Das as a rebel candidate at Naduvattom. In Kannur district, at least 100 rebel candidates are in the fray. In Kuttiadi panchayat, the Congress and the Muslim League have been in a direct fight in 14 wards. In Wayand district panchayat and Kalpatta, Manathavady and Sulthan Bathery municipality, the UDF is facing its own rival candidates. In the newly formed Kannur Corporation, the Congress and the League candidates have engaged in a friendly fight.  Mallapuram is set for a straight fight between two major UDF partners, Congress and the Indian Union Muslim League in more than sixteen panchayats, two district panchayat divisions and three municipalities. Incidentally, the two parties have locked horns in almost all assembly segments represented by their senior leaders.

In Kottayam district, the Kerala Congress and the Congress are taking on each other in all wards of Uzhavoor, Marangattupally and  Ramapuram gram panchayats. IUML has walked out of UDF at Changanessery, Ettumanoor and Earttupetta. In Purappuzha panchayat, homeland of minister PJ Joseph, Kerala Congress has been contesting against the Congress in 11 wards out of 13.

While the UDF has been grappling with rebellions, the LDF is facing the elections unitedly and is free from rebels. LDF is ahead in campaign. CPI(M) Polit Bureau member PinaraiVijayan, state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, Polit Bureau members S Ramachandran Pillai,  M A Baby, opposition leader V S Achuthanandan, CPI state secretary Kanam Rajendran are leading the campaign. The LDF is focusing on door- to-door campaign. Ward based conventions and public meetings have  been going on.

A gamut of issues on national and regional development are discussed. Corruption, unemployment and law and order problems also issues in the election. The controversies and killings over beef in the rest of the country have cast a shadow over the election. The mayhem at Dadri and series of violent incidents over beef eating have caused revulsion across the state – huge number of people in the state eat meat especially cow and buffalo meat.  A large section of Hindus, who make up 54 percent of the population also eat beef. So naturally it would damage the prospects of the BJP in the state. Added to this is the incident of the police raid on Kerala House on October 26, the state government’s representative office in Delhi, for allegedly serving beef at its canteen. The Delhi Police raid has evoked public outrage in Kerala and several leading politicians of the LDF have condemned the incident. On both these issues, Oommen Chandy has adopted a soft stand towards Hindutva forces. Price rise is another important issue in the election. Steep price fall of rubber, coconut, rice etc has created a serious dissent among the farmers. Serious questions have been raised about the non-intervention of the state government.  Big developmental projects announced by the UDF government like Smart City at Kochi and Metro rail are not fulfilled.