Thiruvananthapuram: The Left Democratic Front (LDF) rode the Red wave back to power with a marked increase in its votes over the previous Assembly and Lok Sabha polls.
Though the United Democratic Front (UDF), too, suffered a decrease in its votes, it was the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) that was left red-faced after its vote share took a sharp dip.
The LDF posted its emphatic win by 2.67 per cent more votes than it had won in the 2016 Assembly polls. The Front also added 10.73 per cent more votes to its kitty than it had garnered in the Lok Sabha election held in 2019.
The UDF won 0.78 per cent more votes during the past five years, but posted a decrease of 7.87 per cent votes from its Lok Sabha outing.
Besides witnessing a slide in its vote share, the NDA also ended up losing the lone seat it had in the State Assembly. The BJP had opened its account in the State Assembly from Nemom in 2016.
The BJP had increased its vote share to 15.53 per cent in the Lok Sabha election from 14.94 per cent recorded in the 2016 Assembly polls. This time, however, its vote share dipped to 12.47 per cent.
BJP loses 12.22% votes in Nemom
The BJP lost 12.22 per cent votes in Nemom when CPM’s V Sivankutty defeated Kummanam Rajasekharan. Though Sivankutty emerged victorious, there was a decrease of 3.41 per cent votes, but K Muraleedharan, who came third, increased the UDF’s vote share by 15.25 per cent.
The UDF’s increased vote share indicated that the Congress grabbed a significant share of votes that had gone to O Rajagopal in 2016, and thereby closing BJP’s account in Kerala.
The BJP had come second in Kazhakkoottam in 2016, and it made the party hopeful of winning the seat. The BJP candidate, Sobha Surendran, however, lost 3.04 per cent of votes her party colleague V Muraleedharan had won in the previous election. UDF, too, lost 5.15 per cent votes. Votes BJP and UDF lost, added to the victory margin of CPM’s Kadakampally Surendran.
Despite the loss of votes in Nemom and Kazhakkoottam, the BJP increased its vote share in Vattiyoorkkavu (6.61%), Chathannur (9.05%), Palakkad (6.26%), Malampuzha (0.78%) and Manjeshwaram (2.38%) over the previous election.
