THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : The UDF leaders’ meet held here on Tuesday for a post-poll outcome review has come to the conclusion that four more LS seats would have come to the front. The meet took note of the fact that the vote share of the BJP in the state has gone up substantially and also charged that the CPM and BJP indulged in vote-trading in T’Puram LS segment.
“The UDF is not disappointed at the results when what has been gained is far ahead of the position at an all-India level in other states. It is unfortunate that the UDF lost Chalakkudy and Thrissur .In Kasargod and Kannur, there was widespread bogus voting. That the vote share has gone down in Idukki is a matter of real concern. And in the case of Palakkad, none including the SJD candidate is able to comprehend even now what really led to a massive defeat and what all undercurrents were at play,” said UDF convenor P P Thankachan .
A UDF sub-committee with R Balakrishna Pillai as chairman and Thankachan as convenor has been constituted to go into the poll debacle in Palakkad.
‘’The poll outcome in other mentioned segments will be reviewed at the respective places and corrective measures will be taken wherever necessary. A drop in the vote share of UDF candidate in T’Puram and a few other segments, either won or lost with thin margins, will also be examined’’, Thankachan said. He said the Congress executive committee meet slated for May 29 would take stock of the poll reverses and other issues in segments contested by party candidates. ‘’If the Congress high command’s decision on inter-changing candidates is what led to the debacle in Chalakkudi and Thrissur, it will be reported accordingly,” he said.
He said that the meet felt that the votes garnered by NOTA should be an eye-opener. “The reasons on why it is making a trend in a democracy has to found out’’,he said. The meet also observed that outfits like AAP, SDPI and Welfare Party have made its presence felt in the poll arena. ‘’Measures will be taken to bring back those who have gone to such outfits,” he said.
The meet took note of the fact that the state was able to stay away from the national trend in the polls as people have a liking for the UDF Govt and its performance.
‘’The UDF has taken a lead in 80 out of 140 Assembly segments in the state, whereas BJP led in four and the LDF in 56 only.
After taking corrective measures wherever necessary, we’ll stay with the people’’,he said.
He said that the calculations of the CPM and LDF had gone wrong in the LS polls in the state.