Thiruvananthapuram: The Bharatiya Janata Party is hopeful of winning at least 5 seats in Kerala and securing a vote share of 20 per cent in the State, the party's Kerala-in-charge Prakash Javadekar said on Tuesday.
The BJP expressed confidence that Lok Sabha election results will lead to the the emergence of the party-led NDA, marking the beginning of a political change in the state, which has so far been dominated by the Congress-led UDF and the CPM-led LDF. The BJP asserted that the NDA would deliver impressive performances in all 20 Lok Sabha constituencies in Kerala, securing victory in many "prestigious seats," including Thiruvananthapuram, by defeating Congress "bigshots" like Shashi Tharoor.
By securing 3.6 lakh votes, the BJP expects Rajeev Chandrasekhar to win by 12,000 votes in Thiruvananthapuram. In Thrissur, Suresh Gopi is expected to capture 4 lakh votes. Meanwhile, Anil Antony is expected to gain more votes than K Surendran in the last election in Pathanamthitta. V Muraleedharan is expected to get around 3 lakh votes.
"There will be election results that will mark the beginning of political change in Kerala. For the first time in Kerala, people voted for Prime Minister Modi's development politics," BJP state chief K Surendran told reporters here, based on an "analysis of the NDA's prospects" in the April 26 polls. The party chief opined that the result would not polarise state politics between the LDF and the UDF, but rather it will evolve a new system, giving an upper hand to the BJP.
The BJP's state leadership also dismissed Congress's claim that the UDF led by it would sweep the state, and labelled it an exaggeration. "Congress will suffer a major setback in these polls in Kerala. NDA will win in many constituencies. There is no doubt. Many bigshots will lose their ground," Surendran said.
Responding to a query, he asserted that Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar would secure victory in the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha seat, defeating Tharoor. "There will be a strong performance (by the NDA) in all constituencies," he said, claiming that the people of Kerala have voted for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's assurances in the polls.
The BJP's poll analysis meeting was attended by several senior leaders, including the party's Kerala in-charge Prakash Javadekar. National leaders of the BJP, including PM Modi, campaigned extensively in Kerala for the April 26 elections, aiming to end the BJP's electoral dry spell in the state. Election results nationwide will be declared after votes are counted on June 4.
(With PTI inputs.)
