The BJP camp in Kerala is jubilant over the exit poll prediction that the saffron party will win one to three Lok Sabha seats in the state.
The prospect of the BJP opening a Lok Sabha account in Kerala would be a turning point in the political landscape in Kerala. The BJP leaders expect that the NDA candidates will win in Thrissur and Thiruvananthapuram, and if the exit polls become a reality, Attingal will also come to its kitty.
Most exit polls have predicted that the BJP will gain a toehold in Kerala and the Congress-led UDF would dominate the Lok Sabha polls when the results are out on Tuesday. The ABP C Voter Survey forecasts 17 to 19 seats for the UDF and one to three seats for the BJP, with LDF reduced to zero.
The India Today-Axis My India has claimed that the UDF would get 17 to 18 seats in Kerala, followed by the NDA (two to three seats) and the LDF (zero to one).
Times Now-ETG has given four seats to the LDF, 14 to 15 seats to the UDF, and one seat to the NDA. India TV-CNX’s projection indicates 3 to 5 seats for the LDF, 13 to 15 seats for the UDF, and 1 to 3 seats for the NDA.
However, the CPI-M-led LDF and the Congress-led UDF have rejected the exit poll prediction that the BJP would open its account in the just concluded Lok Sabha polls. Both fronts are in agreement that the BJP will not open its account in Kerala. In fact, both the front leaders are surprised over the prediction that the saffron party will gain a toehold in Kerala in this Lok Sabha polls.
CPI-M state secretary MV Govindan rejected the projections, stating that the exit polls look like a ‘mad-man’s prediction. LDF convener and senior CPI-M leader EP Jayarajan said the exit poll predictions were politically motivated and pollsters arrived at the conclusion not through some scientific findings or experiments.
“I suspect it is politically motivated. All the exit polls have taken a stand that repeats and strengthens what the BJP has been saying till now. That is what makes it even more suspicious,” Jayarajan said.
“The BJP has hardly any chance of opening its account in Kerala. The fact is that the BJP will not get even one seat in Kerala,” he said. “The society in Kerala does not wish for a communal party to win seats here,” the LDF convener added.
Senior CPI-M leader AK Balan is also of the view that the BJP would not be able to open its account in Kerala.
Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala brushed aside the predictions and said the party does not trust these projections. He asserted that the UDF would win in all the 20 constituencies in Kerala and that the BJP would not secure any seat in the state.
The pollsters’ prediction that the BJP will open its Lok Sabha account in Kerala would be a major victory for the saffron party’s strategy to get a toehold in Kerala if the prediction becomes a reality on Tuesday. It is to be noted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given much attention in Kerala to improve the BJP’s prospects in the state with high-decibel roadshows, mammoth public rallies and frequent visits. He had focused his campaign on the Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency, where the BJP has high expectations of victory through its film star-turned-politician candidate Suresh Gopi.
The India Today-Axis My India has predicted that the NDA’s vote share in Kerala would increase to 27 per cent from 15 per cent last time, while the LDF was predicted to get a 29 per cent share of the total votes polled. If this prediction comes true, the political equations in the state will undergo a big change. The prediction of a BJP gain with a drop in the vote share of the Left may come as a shock to the CPI-M-led LDF in Kerala.