The LDF was forced to be content with one seat, Alappuzha. The LDF lost its traditional bastions such as, Palakkad, Alathur,Kannur, Kasargod, Vadakara and Attingal.
LS candidate of Congress-led UDF, Hibi Eden celebrates after he emerged victorious from the Ernakulum LS Constituency in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, at the Kerala Congress headquarters in Kochi on May 23, 2019. (Photo: IANS)
It’s UDF wave in Kerala.The Congress led-UDF is set to win in 19 out of the 20 Lok Sabha seats in the state with Congress president Rahul Gandhi set to win with a record majority of over 3.34 lakh votes in Wayanad constituency.
The election results have rendered a severe blow to the CPI-M-led LDF, which was hoping to win an impressive tally, and dashed the hopes of the BJP that had claimed to open its account in the state.
The LDF was forced to be content with one seat, Alappuzha. The LDF lost its traditional bastions such as, Palakkad, Alathur,Kannur, Kasargod, Vadakara and Attingal.
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While the CPI-M got one seat, the CPI drew a blank. The trends show the emotional Sabarimala issue, minority consolidation and Rahul Gandhi’s candidature in Wayanad helped the UDF to sweep the state.
The poor show by the LDF could bring out into the open simmering differences within the front over the Sabarimala issue.
The CPI-M’s poor performance in the state would have a bearing on the national political scenario too. The numbers from here was crucial for the CPI-M to retain its national party status.
Now, as the CPI-M failed to get a reasonable number of seats from Kerala, it will have an adverse impact on the party’s attempt to retain its national status.
The results gave a rude shock to the BJP that had claimed to register a resounding win in four constituencies-Thiruvananthapuram, Pathanamthitta, Thrissur and Palakkad,on the strength of the Sabarimala women entry issue.
Political observers hold the view that the Sabarimala issue worked in favour of the UDF and not the BJP. CPI-M state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said that the Left respects the decision of the people of Kerala.
“This is an unexpected situation, but it is only temporary. The Left has faced failures before also. In the 1977 Lok Sabha elections, we did not win any seats, but we came back. Again in 1984, we had a major setback but in 1987, we overcame all those obstacles. So this is also temporary,” said Balakrishnan.
BJP state president PS Sreedharan Pillai said that though BJP didn’t win a seat, the vote share of the party has increased.
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