New Delhi, May 5 -- The Congress-led-United Democratic Front (UDF) has returned to power in Kerala with a decisive mandate, winning 102 of the 140 Assembly seats. Meanwhile, the incumbent CPI(M) led Left Democratic Front (LDF) has been reduced to 35 seats, its worst performance in the state. The BJP-led NDA has won three seats, its best-ever tally in Kerala. What explains the results? First, and foremost, they suggest that the UDF's gains in the 2024 parliamentary election and the 2025 local body polls were not temporary and were part of a larger anti-incumbency wave. They have now carried into the Assembly election. In 2024, the UDF won 18 of Kerala's 20 Lok Sabha seats, while the LDF was reduced to just one seat and the BJP won its first ...