AS the curtains were brought down on the gruelling campaign for the single-phase election battle in Kerala today, the writing on the wall is crystal-clear. It is obvious that the when voters come to cast their votes on April 10, it is the Left Democratic Front headed by the CPI(M) which would be their choice.  Even in traditional strongholds of the Congress-led United Democratic Front like Malappuram, Ponnani, Wayanad and Kottayam the LDF campaign has struck a strong chord among the voters.  As the nearly 2.25 crore voters go out to exercise their franchise on Thursday, relentless price rise, high level corruption both at the centre and the state etc. will weigh heavily on their minds.  The solar scam involving the office of the Chief Minister, was a major election issue on which the LDF harped during its campaign. In a fresh embarrassment to the Congress, a photograph of Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala posing with a notorious gold smuggler, jailed a few months back, made it to the pages of a few publications.  The Oommen Chandy government’s proposed move to increase power and water tariff compounded with the delay in the payment of salaries of lakhs of government employees due to financial mismanagement, have caused undue worry in the UDF camp. The strictures passed by the Kerala High Court against the Chief Minister in a land grab case in which his close aide and former gunman Salim Raj is involved has only compounded their woes.  As the LDF is posing a strong challenge to the UDF in all the 20 seats in the state, and the imminent defeat of UDF stares in its face, the fate of the Oommen Chandy government itself is at stake.    Central Ministers Shashi Tharoor, K C Venugopal, Kodikkunnil Suresh, K V Thomas, Mullappalli Ramachandran and E Ahamed are all fighting with their back to the wall with the LDF candidates giving them a run for their money.   The LDF is poised to retain all its sitting seats – Kasargode, Palakkad, Alathur and Attingal and wrest a majority of the other seats from the UDF. Among the leading contestants from the CPI(M) are Polit Bureau Member, M.A. Baby from Kollam, Central Committee Members, P. Karunakaran from Kasargode, A. Vijayaraghavan from Kozhikode and P.K Sreemathi from Kannur.  The Kasturirangan Report and ineffectiveness of state government in protecting the rights of the farmers will impact voters in Idukki, Kottyam, Pathanamthitta and Wayanad, which have traditionally sided with the UDF. The rousing reception to the LDF campaign in the Muslim league bastions of Malappuram and Ponnani have sent tremors down the spine of the UDF.