Lotus is the election symbol of the Bharatiya Janata Party
By Shankar Raj*
Thiruvananthapuram: The ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) have reacted with shock over almost all the exit polls predicting that the ‘lotus’ will bloom in Kerala for the first time in the Lok Sabha polls this time.
Most exit polls have predicted that the Bharatiya Janata Party is likely to win 1-4 seats and was sure on Thrissur where Prime Minister Narendra Modi had pinned his hopes on actor-turned-politician Suresh Gopi.
In fact, Modi had focused on Thrissur and made multiple visits to Thrissur and had also attended the wedding of Suresh Gopi’s daughter at the famous Sri Krishna Temple in Guruvayur.
While all eyes are on Thrissur, equally important is Thiruvananthapuram where Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar is tipped to defeat Shashi Tharoor of the Congress.
As soon as the exit polls predicted big gains for the BJP which is expected to get a big jump in the vote share from 15% in 2019 to 27% this time, the two Fronts first denied that the saffron party would open its account and then went into a blame game.
The LDF said that if the BJP wins a seat, especially in Thrissur, it would be because of the UDF. “Many Congressmen had cross-voted for Suresh Gopi,” said senior leader AK Balan and added that it was a tacit move to defeat the CPM.
LDF convener EP Jayarajan dismissed the exit poll predictions and said they were highly suspect and speculative.
Tourism Minister Mohammed Riyas, son-in-law of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the BJP can have two MPs from Kerala for two days and when the results come, they will find themselves without any lawmakers in the Lok Sabha from Kerala.
K Muraleedharan, the son of senior Congress leader, the late K Karunakaran, said the BJP would only get a third spot in Thrissur. Muraleedharan, who is himself a candidate in Thrissur added that if the BJP manages to get the second spot, “the prime accused would be Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan”.
The Congress leader, whose sister Padmaja Venugopal had triggered a storm in the Congress by joining the BJP just ahead of the elections, said the Communist Party of India – Marxist (CPI-M) was in league with the BJP to defeat the Congress.
The Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president K Sudhakaran said he was sure that the BJP would not open its account in Kerala. “They might open their account in the future, but not this time under the present political circumstances,” he said. “The UDF will get all the 20 seats in Kerala,” he added.
Union Minister V Muraleedharan hit back at both fronts and said the statements of their leaders only betrayed their nervousness.
In 2019, though six exit polls had predicted that NDA would win one seat in Kerala, the party failed to open an account in the state. The 2019 poll saw a landslide victory for the UDF, with the alliance winning 19 out of 20 seats in the state.
This time too, the UDF is expected to emerge winner with the largest number of seats from Kerala, but the Front’s numbers would see a small dip. This time it is expected to get around 16 seats. The CPM is expected to win in 4-8 seats and the BJP 1-3.
*Shankar Raj is a former editor of The New Indian Express, Karnataka and Kerala, and writes regularly on current affairs.
