Oommen Chandy bags key role in Congress' Kerala poll campaign; UDF to not project CM face

For the Kerala Assembly election due in April-May this year, the United Democratic Front (UDF) shall not project any leader as the Chief Ministerial candidate. This was announced after Kerala Congress chief Mullappally Ramachandran, former CM Oommen Chandy, and Leader of Opposition in Kerala Assembly Ramesh Chennithala met the party high command including interim president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. While both Chandy and Chennithala will contest the Assembly polls, a CM face will be finalised only if UDF wins a majority. 

In another key decision, former Defence Minister AK Antony will play an important role in the Congress election campaign and would remain in the State from mid-February till the end of the polls. Moreover, Chandy will head the Congress Supervisory Panel comprising Ramachandran, Chennithala, ex-state president K Muraleedharan, Lok Sabha MP K Sudhakaran, general secretary Tariq Anwar, general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal, and State working president Kodikunnil Suresh. Speaking to the media after the meeting, the Kerala Congress president exuded confidence in the UDF winning the upcoming Assembly polls. 

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Kerala Assembly polls

In the 2016 Kerala Assembly election, the CPI(M)-led Left Front swept the 140-member Assembly by bagging 91 seats. In contrast, the candidates of the Congress-led UDF could win from only 47 constituencies. On the other hand, BJP failed to make an impact with only O Rajagopal winning from the Nemom constituency. Subsequently, CPI(M) leader Pinarayi Vijayan was sworn-in as the Chief Minister of Kerala on May 25, 2016.

The UDF's campaign in the 2019 General Election received a shot in the arm after ex-Congress president Rahul Gandhi decided to contest from the Wayanad parliamentary constituency as well. Ultimately, the result was in favour of UDF which won 19 out of the 20 Lok Sabha seats. However, the Left Front again showcased their strength in the local body polls held in December 2020 by winning 7,262 seats as against that of UDF and NDA that could win 5,893 and 1,182 seats respectively. This assumes significance as the Kerala government has faced a lot of criticism over allegations of corruption in the gold smuggling scam. 

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