​Two plus one: On the April 9 Assembly elections in Kerala, Assam and Puducherry Politics & News

Public campaigning for the April 9 Assembly elections in Kerala, Assam and Puducherry concluded on Tuesday and voting will take place in a single phase across all three regions — 126 seats in Assam, 140 in Kerala, and 30 in Puducherry. The results will be declared on May 4. In Kerala, the incumbent LDF led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is seeking a third consecutive term. No alliance has achieved such a feat in the State, but the LDF mounted an audacious campaign premised on a claim that ‘there is no alternative’ to the LDF. The emergence of the BJP — it won its first Lok Sabha seat in the State in 2024 — as a notable force in the State has further confused the Kerala electorate. Each of the three formations has accused the other two of having an understanding beneath the open posturing. The UDF is attempting to convert the momentum that it gained in the Lok Sabha and local body elections into an Assembly victory. The LDF is counting on its 10 years of welfare governance. The Congress has replicated its model of guarantees covering key vote blocs such as college students and women. The party managed to resolve the internal disputes over ticket distribution, but senior leaders are angling for the Chief Minister’s post, counting their chickens before they hatch. The CPI(M) had to contend with at least four of its senior leaders leaving the party and contesting as UDF candidates.

In Assam, the campaign has been dominated by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who is seeking a second term and a third for the BJP-led NDA. He has formulated a strident version of anti-Muslim rhetoric, Hindutva, and indigenous identity politics and welfare schemes, particularly the Orunodoi direct benefit transfer to around 40 lakh women. Other promises by the BJP are measures against illegal encroachment, implementation of the Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act, a Uniform Civil Code excluding tribal areas, and two lakh government jobs. The campaign concluded with the Congress responding in kind to Mr. Sarma’s highly personalised campaign against Congress’s campaign leader Gaurav Gogoi. Mr. Sarma has been alleging that Mr. Gogoi has links with Pakistan. The Congress alleged that Mr. Sarma’s wife holds three passports — the UAE, Antigua and Barbuda, and Egypt — and may be preparing to flee in the event of defeat. A six-party alliance led by the Congress is fighting on an uneven battlefield in Assam. In Puducherry, an NDA government led by All India N.R. Congress (AINRC) leader N. Rangasamy has been in power since 2021. With only 30 seats, the personal standing of individual candidates could play a bigger role in the outcome than grand politics in the Union Territory.