By Ashraf Padanna
Gulf Times Correspondent
Thiruvananthapuram

Kerala’s ruling and opposition fronts have stepped up campaign across the state for next week’s local bodies elections amid talk of the emergence of a third force.
Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala yesterday predicted a repeat of the 2010 performance for the Congress-led ruling coalition which won close to 70% of the three-tier local self-governments.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) strongman Pinarayi Vijayan, on the other hand, accused Chief Minister Oommen Chandy of promoting the Bharatiya Janata Party’s newfound friendship with the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) Yogam.
“There’s a secret pact between Chandy and the BJP. People can easily see through his political vileness,” Vijayan said while addressing a campaign meeting in Kannur.
The CPM is worried over the BJP gaining strength and reaching an understanding with the SNDP of the powerful Hindu Ezhava community, a traditional Left vote bank.
“He (Chandy) is playing with fire. It (the BJP’s growth) will destroy communal harmony,” said Vijayan, who is touted as the chief minister if the CPM’s Left Democratic Front (LDF) wins the state assembly elections next year.
Chandy hit the campaign trail last week harping about the achievements of his government and calling it a referendum on his performance. True to his style, he avoided any personal attack on the rivals.
The Congress Party-led United Democratic Front (UDF) came to power in 2011 winning just 72 seats in the 140-member state assembly. The BJP had to contend with just 6% of the votes and no seats.
In last year’s parliamentary elections, the UDF established a lead in 80 assembly segments leaving just 56 to the LDF and four to the BJP when the saffron party increased its vote share to 10.5%.
Though the UDF is facing rebel menace and the coalition is in tatters in many places in its stronghold of Malappuram district, it is banking on its big-ticket development projects like the Kochi metro and Kannur airport and several welfare schemes to spin votes.
The CPM has reached an understanding with the Welfare Party of India promoted by the Jama’at-e-Islami in some places in Malabar to defeat Muslim League, the key Congress ally.
“The Marxists are planning to unleash violence and terrorise voters fearing an inevitable loss. This would be dealt with firmly,” said Chennithala.
“Thee Congress had never compromised with communal forces. Vijayan’s allegations are borne out of fear of an imminent defeat, and he wants to attract minority votes through false propaganda.”
The BJP meanwhile came out strongly against CPM leader V S Achuthanandan, who is mainly targeting the SNDP leadership for its bonhomie with the BJP.
In a scathing personal attack, BJP leader K Surendran said the civic elections would prove to be a disaster for Achuthanandan, 92, the “biggest power-hungry man Kerala has seen”.
“He is (nearing) 100 but he still nurses parliamentary ambitions,” Surendran said in response to Achuthanandan’s threat that he would send SNDP general secretary Vellappally Nateshan to jail after the elections.
Both Chandy, 71, and Achuthanandan, who are leading the campaigns for the two main fronts, attract crowds at their meetings while younger leaders take a backseat.