Though BJP is having a strong presence in Kerala, then any other Southern state, it is unable to register electoral presence, due to political polarisation between two predominant fronts in the state. Except winning one assembly seat in 2016 polls, it failed to win any MLA or MP seat.
But this time BJP is making sincere efforts to open its account in Lok Sabha polls and aiming at winning a minimum of three seats, out of 20 seats in the state. It is fielding its senior leaders, including two union ministers Muraleedharan and Rajeev Chandrasekhar in the election fray. It also pins high hopes in a few constituencies, including Thrissur.
However, a recent survey indicated that BJP is unlikely to open its account in the state. Manorama News- VMR Survey predicts that the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) has a clear edge in the state. It is likely to win 13 of the 20 seats in the state. The state goes to polls on April 26.
The survey says that UDF is likely to win Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Idukki, Alathur, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Ponnani, Wayanad and Kasaragod constituencies.
The poll outcome, however, is unpredictable in four seats—Vadakara, Kannur, Attingal and Palakkad—that are witnessing a close contest between the UDF and the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF). In Thrissur, Chalakkudy and Mavelikkara, the UDF has an upper hand, but the survey does not rule out the possibility of surprise wins in these seats.
In the 2019 general elections, the UDF won 19 seats while the Left only one. The BJP came a distant third in all the seats except Thiruvananthapuram. Of the total participants of the Manorama survey, 43.38 per cent supported the UDF while 34.74 said they would support the LDF. The NDA received the support of 18.44 per cent of the participants.
More than half of the participants remarked that the Narendra Modi government was misusing the central probe agencies against its political opponents. As many as 54 per cent participants did not find Ayodhya Ram temple construction as an achievement of the Union government, though they credited the Modi government for Women Reservation Act and Vande Bharat trains.
While 56 per cent participants felt Muslims were denied justice in the Ayodhya issue, 50.59 per cent claimed India was losing its secular character. Price hike, farm crisis, communal polarisation, Manipur violence were cited as the failure of the Modi government by a significant number of respondents.
Nearly half of the participants (49 per cent) blamed the Union government in the tussle between Centre and state over financial matters.
