Campaigning has gained momentum for the first phase of assembly polls in Kerala covering 59 constituencies in six southern districts where several key figures, including Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, heading the Congress-led ruling United Democratic Front, are in the fray.      

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The outcome of polls in Travancore region on April 22 is considered crucial by both the UDF and the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Democratic Front as political tilts in the area had often decided formation of ministries in the past.

The region overwhelmingly favoured the UDF in 2001 assembly polls, reversing its pro-LDF stance of 1996 that put the coalition into power.

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Apart from stock campaign themes like development and corruption, open support pledged to the LDF by Muslim outfits like Peoples Democratic Party and Jamat-e-Islami have become hot topics of debates in the run-up to the polls.

While the LDF hopes that the support from minority outfits and social groups would reinforce its position, the UDF leaders have expressed confidence that majority of Muslims will continue to remain with the coalition in which Indian Union Muslim League is a major partner.

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The Congress leaders, however, have accused the LDF of pursuing a policy of communal appeasement and opportunism by wooing outfits like the PDP and Jamat-e-Islami.

Going by the religious and caste composition and economic factors in southern Kerala, a good showing in the area is crucial for the UDF to retain power. The Christian heartland of central Travancore comprising Pathanamthitta, Kottayam and Idukki districts have often stood loyal to the Congress and allies. Also, the area forms the sphere of immediate influence of Oommen Chandy, contesting from his home constituency Puthupally near Kottayam.

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Going by the results of 2004 Lok Sabha polls, the UDF has to toil hard to retain its hold in the area. As in other regions of the state, the voters had then rejected the UDF. However, Chandy and his lieutenants, criss-crossing the area, have exuded confidence that the situation had changed drastically in the last two years with the UDF government vigorously pushing the policy of fast-track development.

Also, UDF campaigners hold that some kind of a feel-good mood prevailing in the area due to boom in prices of rubber and some cash crops would prove beneficial to the ruling coalition. 

Terming the UDF hopes as mere 'wishful thinking devoid of any political sense,' the LDF leaders argued that the ruling front's support base had further eroded since the Lok Sabha elections.

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They said the presence of a leader like V S Achuthanandan as the central figure of the electoral battle had made the LDF unassailable in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam and Alappuzha districts which together account for half of the total seats in the area.

Besides Chandy, against whom CPI-M has pitted firebrand Students Federation of India leader Sindhu Joy, nine of his cabinet colleagues are in the fray in southern districts. Once a stormy petrel of the Communists and now a key figure of the anti-Marxist coalition, K R Gowry is seeking re-election from her home constituency Arur in Alappuzha district for the 11th time.

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While Kerala Congress (Mani) leader K M Mani is back in his home turf Pala, Communist Marxist Party leader M V Raghavan has shifted to Punalur in Kollam district from Thiruvananthapuram West he won last time.

Leading LDF contestants for the first phase of polling include CPI-M Central Committee member M A Baby (Kundara), CITU leader P K Gurudasan (Kollam), AITUC leader C Divakaran (Karunagapally), RSP leader and Rajya Sabha member N K Premachandran (Chavara) and former assembly speaker M Vijayakumar of CPI-M (Thiruvananthapuram North).