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The ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) government has been stunned into a deafening silence by the sheer scale and enormity of the loss sustained in the Lok Sabha elections.
Of the 20 seats at stake, the LDF was leading in only one when reports last came in, with the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) sweeping other seats by a margin of lakhs in some.
Rahul sets pace
Congress President Rahul Gandhi set a scorching pace in Wayanad by securing a margin of more than four lakh votes, which is the highest in the State.
The Rahul Gandhi factor, combined with a minority consolidation triggered in the wake of Sabarimala and an eventful campaign based on it, seemed to have clearly worked to the UDF’s advantage.
While Rahul Gandhi’s presence and a nuanced CPI(M) campaign aided minority consolidation, majority Hindu votes got split as a result of politics mounted on Sabarimala issue.
This is what clearly seemed to have worked against the BJP, whose best performance was in Thiruvananthapuram, where it ended as a runner-up.
Congress’ two-time MP Shashi Tharoor led by nearly 90,000 votes over Kummanam Rajasekharan, the BJP’s star candidate, in a prestigious fight in Thiruvananthapuram.
Setback to Vijayan
In effect, the pattern of the results announced through the course of the day suggested that it was as much against Narendra Modi as it was against Pinarayi Vijayan, Kerala Chief Minister.
Vijayan had single-handedly decided on the finer details of the campaign, even assigning to himself the task of ensuring the success of CPI(M) candidates in at least two seats, only to be rebuked by voters.
The Congress candidates managed to make inroads into the Left fortresses of North Kerala, including Kasaragod, Kannur and Vadakara.
The LDF candidate in the Chief Minister’s constituency of Dharmadom was trailing — a sign of the extent of the reverses suffered by the CPI(M) and the LDF.
Also-ran triumphs
At least 10 UDF candidates, including rookies belonging to the Congress, surprised poll watchers and the entire political class by securing leads of one lakh and more.
The BJP had invested huge political capital in Pathanamthitta, cradle of the Sabarimala campaign, where another star candidate, K Surendran, ended up third after the CPI(M) candidate.
Overall, the virulent campaign over Sabarimala seemed to have ditched the BJP; in contrast, also-ran UDF and Congress made massive gains at its expense.
BJP’s State unit President PS Sreedharan Pillai had famously exclaimed that the issue had handed the BJP a ‘golden opportunity’ to open its account in Parliament.
Chief Minister Vijayan cannot afford to take the setback lightly, since it could potentially have a bearing on the authority he commands in the party as well as the government.
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