THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: On the eve of the declaration of assembly election results, the BJP-led NDA camp remained guarded about predicting its electoral fortunes. BJP state president K Surendran had surprised many by claiming during the run-up to the election that the BJP would win 35-40 seats. But as counting day neared, no such tall claims were heard in party circles.
A senior BJP leader to whom TNIE spoke to refused to predict an exact number of seats for the NDA but said the alliance’s tally this time around would be a ‘double digit’ figure. Many other BJP leaders too toed a similar line, probably due to a diktat from the state leadership not to put out any numbers.
“Though we cannot predict the exact number of seats, our vote share would definitely increase and come close to the 20% mark,” said a member of the party’s core group. Besides winning one seat, BJP had finished second in seven constituencies last time and the party has pinned its hopes on clinching these seats this time. The BJP also hopes to finish second in at least a dozen seats as well.
However, none of the exit polls has predicted more than six seats for the NDA, with a poll of polls (an aggregate of various exit polls) predicting two seats for the saffron alliance. While a section within the party foresees the lotus blooming even in unexpected waters, a sceptical group is wary of shock reversals in its perceived strongholds.