THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Just a day remaining for the crucial assembly elections that could prove decisive in shaping the course of Kerala politics, the ruling Left is vouching for Pinarayi 3.0 while the Congress camp insists the UDF is set for a comeback.
As the open campaigning came to a close with a high-octane ‘kottikalasham’ across the state on Tuesday, the LDF and the UDF are confident of securing a majority, even as the NDA is hopeful of winning double-digit seats.
However, notwithstanding tall claims of scoring a century of seats or more, both the UDF and LDF camps estimate a wafer-thin majority.
Going by internal reports, the UDF camp expects close to 80 seats — around 35-40 more than its current tally. The LDF hopes to touch anything between 70 and 75, which may go up to roughly 80 — nearly 20 seats down from the last election. According to internal assessments, the BJP aims to make it big this time, and calculates anything between 10 and 15 seats.
The ‘deal’ allegations, SDPI factor and finally the Wayanad fund-swindling charges turned out to be some of the crucial narratives during the campaign phase this election.
While initial surveys and assessments — in addition to early candidate selection — were in favour of LDF, the UDF camp feels it was able to catch up with its rivals halfway through the campaign. “Some leaders do project an ambitious 100 seats target, which is possible if there is a wave-like scenario. As of now, we feel the front will safely land with 80-odd seats, with a substantial contribution by the Muslim League,” said a senior Congress leader.
On the other hand, the Left camp feels that though caught slightly off-guard with a series of charges during the second phase of campaigning, the front managed to win back the narrative by the last lap, thanks to the Wayanad fund-swindling allegations that landed the Congress in a soup.
According to a senior CPM leader, though the UDF could gain an advantage with the secret deal allegation as well as the SDPI charge, they lost out in the final lap. “It remains a close call, with the LDF projected to win 70-75 seats. In a best case scenario, it can go up to 80 seats. In the last stage, the UDF messed up with the Wayanad housing fiasco and open bickering,” the leader said. Notably, both fronts admit that BJP could win anything between 2-5 seats. “It remains to be seen in which pockets they do so. Most probably it will be in south Kerala and a few pockets in central Kerala,” said a senior Left leader.
The BJP, after internal analysis, hopes to win double digits, thus making it a formidable force. The saffron camp has concluded that it could win 10 to 15 seats, primarily in Thiruvananthapuram and in central Kerala. “Anything above two seats would be counted a gain for the BJP,” said a leader of the saffron camp.
Now, it’s over to silent campaigning and last-minute strategies to win over indecisive voters.
Fingers crossed
Going by internal reports, the UDF camp expects close to 80 seats -- around 35-40 more than its current tally
The LDF hopes to touch anything between 70 and 75, which may go up to roughly 80 -- nearly 20 seats down from the last election
According to internal assessments, the NDA aims to make it big this time, and calculates anything between 10 and 15 seats
