A HANDFUL OF PROBLEMS FOR PINARAYI VIJAYAN

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is confident the upcoming assembly election, scheduled for April 6, will see his Left Democratic Front (LDF) government return to power. If the LDF does win a consecutive term, it will be a political first—over the past four decades, Kerala has traditionally seen LDF and Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) governments alternating every five years.

In this, the latest Mathrubhumi-C Voter opinion poll predicts a good outcome for the LDF, projecting that the alliance will win 75-83 of the state’s 140 assembly seats, with a vote share of 40.9 per cent. (In 2016, the LDF won 91 seats, with a vote share of 43.5 per cent.) The poll predicts that the UDF will take 56-64 seats with a vote share of 37.9 per cent, with the BJP-led