Editorial, Indian Express, 18 Feb.1991
Reactions to the Muslim League's decision to snap the party's long relationship with the Congress-I-led United Democratic Front in Kerala have been along predictable lines... With the League's exit, the Congress-I loses the main, and perhaps the most dependable, prop it has had for the past two decades... Admittedly, relations between the leaders of the Muslim League and Congress(I) have been under strain for some time and were further exacerbated by the Masjid-Mandir controversy and the Congress-I high command's perceived bivalent stance on it. Even so, the final break would still have been delayed but for the severe setback suffered by the UDF in general and the Muslim League in particular in the recently held District Council polls, particularly in pockets long considered to be their citadels....
That the Muslim League's exit from the UDF will significantly alter the political alignments in the State is obvious.... Joining the LDF bandwagon is only a very distant possibility not merely because of the tough pre-conditions put forward by the LDF leadership but the inevitable opposition from within... If ... the party also decides to withdraw support to the Chandra Shekhar Government at the Centre, it will take it several steps closer to the Janata Dal and hence the LDF.
Editorial, The Statesman, 25 Feb.1991
The Muslim League's decision to leave the Congress(I)-led United Democratic Front in Kerala, after nearly 21 years of unbroken association with it, was not unexpected after the reverses that the UDF- and hence the League too- suffered in the State's first ever-district council elections....
It remains to be seen whether there will be any further fall out from the February elections. For instance, the political parties of the Nair and Ezhava communities, as well as the Kerala Congress led by Mr. K.M. Mani, which is generally regarded as speaking for Christians, all have major differences with the Congress(I), especially over the Mandal report, but are still in the UDF. It is a moot point whether they will also follow the League's example. If that happens, even partially, Kerala's electoral arithmetic... is bound to undergo a sea-change... It is possible that even the League may not move over to the LDF, mainly because many of the Marxist cadres are staunchly against the LDF taking in 'non-secular' parties. Will the League, then, remain an independent entity or will it, perhaps, return to the UDF fold?...