Thiruvananthapuram, April 18
With just a week left to elect 20 Lok Sabha members from the state, the three rival political fronts in Kerala are in a buoyant mood as each expects to perform better than they did in 2019. Kerala goes to polls on April 26.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the Congress-led UDF had an easy walkover by getting 47.48 per cent of the total votes polled and 19 seats, CPI-M-led Left secured 36.29 per cent votes and just one seat, while BJP-led NDA got 15.64 per cent and the best they could do was to finish at second place in Thiruvananthapuram and a distant third in the remaining 19 seats.
With the UDF starting at pole position, if they need to improve their performance, as they claim, they will have to retain all the 19 seats and regain the Alappuzha seat, which they lost in 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
Congress Acting President M. M. Hassan, confidently manning the campaign activities, sitting in the state party headquarters, is expecting a clean sweep.
“The voters know that both, the state government under the corrupt leadership of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, and the Centre under Prime Minister Narendra Modi have turned out to be a complete failure. Hence, we are confident of a clean sweep,” said Hassan.
The UDF is relying heavily on the anti-incumbency factor against CM Vijayan and the policies of the Modi government, especially the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
Meanwhile, CM Vijayan, who is on a whirlwind tour of the 14 districts, is bubbling with confidence.
“In comparison to the 2019 polls, this time, we are going to do well and that’s what we could gauge. Congress is silent on the vexed issue of CAA and it shows that they are aligned to the Sangh Parivar forces,” said Vijayan.
Currently, the Chief Minister is hoping against hope that the 24 per cent of Muslim voters have by now understood that it’s only the Left that can be trusted and that voting for Congress means an indirect vote for BJP, given that more than 100 former Congress MP’s are now with BJP.
If one were to make any assessment based on the ‘noise’ created during the election campaign, then BJP is the clear winner, but whether it will translate to votes is the bigger question.
The one person who continues to believe that BJP will emerge a winner is state BJP President K. Surendran, contesting against sitting Congress MP Rahul Gandhi from the Wayanad seat.
“This time, things are going to be different and BJP will be doing well,” said Surendran.
BJP is harping that the Left and Congress are partners in Delhi under INDIA bloc, while they are engaged in shadowboxing here.
The BJP is also trying to spread the word that a vote for the party here is a vote for a stable and forward-looking Modi government that is certain to retain power.
As matters stand, there is a fierce triangular fight in Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur and possibly in Attingal seats.
Likewise, a keen battle between the traditional rivals - Left and Congress - is currently on at Badagara, Palakkad, Alathur, Kannur, Mavelikara, Chalakudy, Kozhikode, Pathanamthitta and Kasaragod. A slight swing could turn the tides for either of them.
However, the Congress party seems to have a clear edge in Wayanad, Kollam, Kottayam, Idukki, Ernakulam, Ponnani, Malappuram and Alappuzha.
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