KOCHI: Five months ago, the BJP was upbeat in Kerala as the party could put up a spirited fight in five Lok Sabha constituencies, though it failed to send a member to the Parliament. On Thursday, as the results of the byelection to five assembly constituencies were announced, party workers were dejected as BJP’s vote share nosedived indicating erosion of vote base.
Party state president P S Sreedharan Pillai was cautious in his response as he said the party would study the factors that led to the humiliating drubbing, especially, in Vattiyoorkavu and Konni, where the party fancied victory.
“In Manjeswar, we increased our vote share, but there was a sharp decline in LDF votes, which indicates an adjustment to defeat the BJP. In Konni, our vote share increased by 23,073 votes, which shows a sharp climb. There has been a decline in votes in Vattiyoorkavu, which we will study,” said Pillai.
However, there are points that the party president tried to hide. The BJP support base swelled in Konni assembly constituency after the Sabarimala protests. The BJP, which polled only 16,713 votes in the 2016 assembly polls, could raise their vote share to 46,506 in the 2019 LS polls, thanks to its active participation in Sabarimala protests. However, the vote share declined to 39,786, recording a dip of 6,720 votes, which is a cause of worry for the party.
In Vattiyoorkavu, the party’s vote share dropped from 50,709 in the 2019 LS polls to 27,453 this time, which shows a decline of 23,256 votes. The denial of seat to former Mizoram Governor Kummanam Rajasekharan has not gone down well with the RSS rank and file. In Aroor, where the party got 25,250 votes just five months ago, the vote share plunged to 16,289. What led to the sharp decline in BJP’s vote share? According to party insiders, faction feud, sour relations with NDA ally BDJS and failure to bring a legislation to protect the rituals and practices at Sabarimala have worked against the party.
As the Nair Service Society worked actively for the UDF in Vattiyoorkavu, the SNDP Yogam, the organisation representing the powerful Ezhava community, came forward to support the LDF, which led to draining of BDJS votes.
