The April 9 poll for the 140 seats in the southern coastal state comes on the back of UDF’s impressive performance in the local body polls a few months ago. The Congress and Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) are contesting 95 and 27 seats, respectively, with the rest going to smaller allies.
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Gandhi, who is also the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, is familiar with the region and its issues, having been an MP from the State for five years. He will address a public rally at Kozhikode beach on March 25, and it is unclear yet if he will also hold a roadshow in the coastal city.
The AICC leader is bullish on the coastal state as the UDF won 18 of the 20 Lok Sabha seats in the 2024 general elections. The Congress is ruling Karnataka and Telangana on its own. If it manages to unseat the Pinarayi Vijayan regime and wins a good number of seats in Tamil Nadu, the southern Congress leaders will emerge as an influential bloc in the party’s national scheme of things. That will leave only Andhra Pradesh in the South to be ruled by the NDA.
At his election rally, Gandhi is expected to talk about the success of the party’s welfare guarantee schemes in Karnataka and Telangana with a promise of rolling out similar programmes in Kerala as well.
Also Read: Battle for Paravur: Satheesan confronts Taison on home turfIn a recent post on X, Gandhi said Keralam, for him, was home. “The message from Keralam is clear – the people are ready for change, they seek a government that listens, understands, and delivers with honesty.”
The ruling LDF has been seeking to project Congress as being the other face of the BJP in Kerala, a charge the Congress also has often hurled at the LDF. The Congress leads the Opposition UDF in Kerala, of which IUML is the second largest constituent. The IUML is fielding two women candidates for the first time in its history.
