BJP Set To Draw A Blank Again In Kerala, LDF May Settle For Solitary Seat

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) may draw a blank again in Kerala, while the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) might have to settle just for the Alappuzha seat in the Lok Sabha elections for Kerala.

BJP had hoped that it would not only open its account in Kerala this time, but could also go on to win at Pathanamthitta, the epicentre of the Sabarimala protests against allowing women of reproductive age into the Ayyappa temple.

According to the latest trends, former Mizoram governor and BJP state chief Kummanam Rajasekharan is trailing behind former Union minister Shashi Tharoor by over 62,000 votes in Thiruvananthapuram. The disappointment, however, for the BJP was from Pathanamthitta, where its candidate P K Surendran was trailing third behind current incumbent Anto Antony of the Congress, though the party has increased its vote share.

The LDF Alappuzha candidate A M Arif was leading by over 13,000 votes over his nearest Congress rival Shanimol Osman.

In terms of percentage of votes, the BJP has won 12.2 per cent of the votes compared to 38.4 per cent garnered by the Congress and the CPI-M 24.7 per cent.