Both the Congress-led United Democratic Front and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI (M)]-led Left Democratic Front have been fooling the people with false promises every election, says Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) State president V. Muraleedharan. However, this time he hopes the electorate will favour his party. Excerpts from an interview.
Question: What are the chances of your party in this election? Have you adopted any novel approach to face the voters?
Answer: We tell the electorate that the BJP is fighting the Congress at the national level as well as at the State level. But the Left parties are contesting against the Congress only in the State and then they will align with the Congress at the national level. The BJP’s vote share is just 7 per cent while the Congress and the CPI(M)-led coalitions have a vote share between 40 and 45 per cent. The geographical reach of our party is also limited. Still we manage with like-minded parties to broaden our influence to all areas. We started our campaigns in January with panchayat-level workshops. The BJP’s presence will be felt in all the polling stations.
Q: How is the much-hyped Narendra Modi wave going to sway the electorate in the State?
A: Certainly the Modi wave will reap rich rewards for us this election. There are over 10 lakh Malayalis residing in Ahmedabad. Their families here have an idea what Gujarat is all about and also know how underdeveloped Kerala is.
Q: You claim to have a large number of minority leaders at the national level. But the State leadership neither rope in them for campaign nor attract the minorities to your party?
A: We have an array of leaders like Shahnawaz Hussain and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi coming for electioneering in the State. Besides, nowadays more people from the Christian community in the State prefer our party.
Q: Are you giving special focus to any particular constituency like Thiruvananthapuram or Kasaragod where the party has a formidable presence?
A: Unlike the last polls this time our party is not focussing on any particular constituency. All constituencies are treated being equally. Our party has bright prospects even in Pathanamthitta constituency. We will also make a big impact in Attingal.
Q: What is your party’s strategy in attracting new voters?
A: The increase in new voters is between 75,000 and 1 lakh in each constituency. Our party is active in the new media. The Modi factor is bringing more youngsters to our party.
