Having achieved a near clean-sweep by winning 13 of the 14 segments in Thiruvananthapuram district in the Assembly polls, the Left Democratic Front (LDF) district leadership said the victory was largely along expected lines.
The CPI (M)-led coalition had expected to better its performance during the 2016 elections when it had won 10 out of the 14 constituencies. Later, it won the Vattiyurkavu constituency too through a byelection in 2019.
According to CPI (M) district secretary Anavoor Nagappan, the electorate could see through the diversionary tactics of both United Democratic Front (UDF) and National Democratic Alliance (NDA). “Despite their attempts to divert focus from key issues, the public was well aware of the efforts that had been made by the LDF government,” he said.
He attributed the increase in the LDF vote-share in most of its sitting seats to the projects that were successfully undertaken in a time-bound manner. Besides, the LDF’s victory in Aruvikkara, Thiruvananthapuram and Nemom boiled down to the lack of performance of the opposition MLAs.
The LDF attributed its sole loss in Kovalam to vote-trading between its rivals. Despite managing to improve its vote-share, the LDF could not wrest the seat from M. Vincent who benefited from a significant increase in the votes he garnered, purportedly at the expense of the NDA.
Nevertheless, Mr. Nagappan said that the Left front has succeeded in warming up to the coastal community over the years.
