Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) State unit president V. Muraleedharan has said the biggest influencing factor in the Assembly elections in the State this time was V.S. Achuthanandan's candidature and poll campaign.
The BJP's State committee met here on Saturday and took stock of the election results. Briefing the media, Mr. Muraleedharan said “it was virtually a one-man fight by Mr. Achuthanandan. The [unexpectedly high number of] votes polled by the LDF in the elections reflected the reaction of the people against the capitalist forces in the CPI(M). The voters were endorsing Mr. Achuthanandan's position on issues within the CPI(M),” he said.
He said the BJP State committee found a big polarisation of minority votes in favour of the UDF, which won 72 seats against 68 won by the LDF. In certain regions in the State, this polarisation of minority votes towards the UDF resulted in the votes of the majority community flowing towards the LDF.
He said the BJP had expected to win seven to eight per cent votes in the elections, besides opening its account in the Assembly. But it could garner a vote share of only just above six per cent, in addition to finishing second in two constituencies. On the positive side, the party polled more votes than in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections in 52 Assembly segments this time. The increase in votes polled by the BJP was more than 50 per cent in three Assembly segments this time, compared to the votes polled in 2009.
Mr. Muraleedharan said the party's State committee felt that the CPI(M) and the Congress had, at the level of certain neighbouring constituencies (for example Nemom and Thiruvananthapuram), bartered votes between themselves at the expense of candidates belonging to the constituent parties in either front. The BJP's winning prospects in Nemom were apparently affected by this quid-pro-quo arrangement between the rival parties.
