The stakes are so high in the Kerala State Assembly polls on April 9 that the public campaign has been no-holds-barred, often descending into ad hominem attacks that have breached the bounds of civility.

The Congress, and the United Democratic Front (UDF) by extension, is in a swim-or-sink situation, as evident from its skipper V.D. Satheesan’s vow to relinquish politics if the alliance loses the polls. Having been in the political wilderness for a decade, a period that also saw the Kerala Congress (Mani) crossing over to the Left Democratic Front (LDF), the Congress and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), the second-largest party in the UDF, cannot afford to sit out of power for another five years. Such an outcome, it is believed, could lead to a loss of face for the Congress nationally, an internal collapse of the organisational structure, and a possible disintegration of the alliance. 

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