Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Assam are very crucial for the Congress

The states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Assam account for 13% out of the 543 seats in Lok Sabha. However, these three states accounted for 50% in the 52 Lok Sabha seats the Congress won in the 2019 elections. This one statistic captures the importance of this election cycle for the Congress. While the Congress is a junior partner of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in Tamil Nadu, it is the leader of the United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kerala and is allying for the first time with the All-india United Democratic Front (AIUDF), a party with mostly Muslim supporters, in Assam. The Assam alliance is a calculated risk as it could alienate the non-muslim supporters of the Congress. A simple addition of Congress and AIUDF vote shares since 2014 Lok Sabha elections shows that its reach has anyway been coming down.