THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency witnessing its lowest-ever voter turnout, the Congress state leadership is upset over a possible dip in Priyanka Gandhi’s majority. It’s learnt that, irked by the significant dip in polling, the central leadership has decided to probe into the reasons behind it. The leadership has started collecting booth-level polling data to review the polling pattern and identify what went wrong.
Speaking to TNIE, KPCC general secretary (Organisation) M Liju said it is a normal practice to collect booth-level polling data soon after the election.
“The national leadership has not sought any special report from KPCC. However, as per the usual process, the party has been collecting booth-level polling data in Wayanad. It’s natural for the national leadership to collect booth-level data, especially since Priyanka Gandhi was contesting,” he said.
According to the leadership, most Congress votes have been polled in Wayanad. “Since there was no major contest - with both the CPM and the BJP staying away from active campaigning - it was an election with less enthusiasm. There was a general indifference towards the byelection as there was no tight contest,” he added. The dip in polling has forced even senior leaders to look into reasons behind such an unexpected twist. An array of factors including an ineffective local leadership and resentment among the Christian community over the Munambam-Waqf issue are pointed out as some of the reasons behind the unexpected low voter turnout.
The party leadership felt a combination of factors may have led to the dip in poll percentage.
“The district leadership in Wayanad has been highly ineffective. There was a hush-hush campaign among the voters on what led to the byelection. There was a feeling that the bypoll was unnecessary. Amid the high-voltage election campaign, the UDF couldn’t effectively counter this campaign. Similarly, there was resentment and confusion among the Christian community over the Munambam-Waqf issue. These factors together reflected in the election,” pointed out a senior Congress leader from Malabar.