Kerala Assembly election 2016: What led to Congress’ debacle

After Assam, Congress Party also lost Kerala. Left seems to be winning 85 seats. In Kerala, people have always voted for two alliances. For the last 40 years, no single party has won majority. This time, LDF alliance has got the mandate. Why Congress lost in Kerala? Ommen Chandy’s government continuously remained under attack from opposition in corruption cases. The case that damaged government the most was Solar Panel scam. It was being alleged that Chandy and his electricity minister had taken bribes. Another incident that dented government’s image was liquor ban scandal. Bar-Restaurant association alleged that two of Chandy’s minister M Mani and K Babu had demanded bribe for lifting ban on liquor. Just before the polling, gang-rape and murder of a law student and another gang-rape of a nursing student casted doubts over law and order situation of the country. Ommen Chandy tried to improve his government’s image by expediting development works, but he didn’t succeed. Another reason for Congress’ loss was that Left kept these issues alive in public memory. Also, they placed their bet on veteran leader, 92-year-old Acchuttanand.