Kerala Assembly polls heat up as major fronts step up campaigns and identity politics takes centrestage

With barely a week remaining before public campaigning ends for the Kerala Assembly polls 2026, the major political fronts are overhauling their strategies and intensifying their push to win over the electorate for the single-phase polling on April 9.

The electoral battle is crystallising as a direct confrontation between the ruling CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) and an invigorated Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF), with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) struggling to muscle in as a third force in the sweepstakes.

Against this backdrop, what began as an election focused on development, inflation, and unemployment has since evolved into something far murkier. Allegations of backroom deals between rival coalitions and cynical identity politics with communal overtures involving outfits such as the SDPI and Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) are now dominating the fag end of electioneering.

As campaigning reaches a fever pitch, big names have landed in the State. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has already visited Palakkad and Thrissur, is expected to return next week for a final blitz in the southern districts. Rahul Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, has electrified the race with a string of charged rallies, while his sister and AICC general secretary, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, is expected to begin her own campaign shortly.

While the UDF was energised by an unexpected victory in the three-tier local body polls held in December 2025, the coalition has spent much of this campaign firefighting internally over who should be the Chief Ministerial candidate should the UDF come to power. The party lagged behind in releasing its list of candidates; and the public drama surrounding K. Sudhakaran MP, who put the party leadership on tenterhooks over his candidature has taken the shine off the Opposition’s charge.

The UDF is now attempting to resurrect the Sabarimala gold theft scandal, while balancing it with a manifesto centred on social welfare and financial security, specifically targeting youth and women.

However, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan also hit back at Mr. Gandhi over the Sabarimala gold loss case, questioning how the prime accused, Unnikrishnan Potti, accompanied by some senior Congress leaders, was seen with Sonia Gandhi at her residence in Delhi.

​Meanwhile, the LDF, which began its campaign relying on the raw political instinct of Mr. Vijayan, is still aiming to highlight a decade of continuity with development initiatives and welfare schemes. Yet, the Left front now faces a reckoning as it deals with internal erosion. Dissidents turned UDF-backed candidates in Kannur, Palakkad, and Alappuzha are openly restless.

Also, senior Congress leaders, including Mr. Gandhi, are reiterating a clandestine understanding between the CPI(M) and the BJP in these elections. To support this, they point to the lack of progress in investigations in the gold smuggling case. The CPI(M) has rubbished this, while the BJP has dismissed it as a bluff.

​As for the NDA, the coalition is attempting to break the traditional two-party dominance by converting its burgeoning vote share into actual seats, a daunting task that has previously stalled at the finish line. Its leadership is focussing on hard metrics from the Lok Sabha elections in 2024 to prove an organic expansion of the party base.

However, the BJP’s ‘minority diplomacy’ with the Christian electorate appears desperate to clear the hurdle over the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) issue. The proposed amendments have alarmed Church leadership, forcing the BJP to work double-time to neutralise the fallout in central Kerala and alter negative perceptions.