LDF suffered setback in Kerala, but Congress lost more vote share than Left: CPI(M)

THIRUVANTHAPURAM: A day after the ruling Left in Kerala suffered a major setback in the Lok Sabha polls, the CPI(M) on Wednesday attempted to paint a brave face by claiming that the LDF only lost one per cent of its vote share as compared to the 2019 results and it was the Congress-led UDF that lost five per cent of its votes.

CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan claimed that the BJP was able to open its account in Kerala by winning the Thrissur Lok Sabha seat due to the Congress losing over 80,000 of its votes in that constituency.

He said that the LDF gained around 6,000 votes as compared to 2019 in Thrissur and the BJP won by a margin of over 74,000 votes this time."So, you do the maths," he told reporters here, taking a dig at the Congress.

Govindan also brushed aside queries whether the Left government in the state was in crisis following the defeat, saying "there will be victories and defeats".

Of the 20 seats in Kerala, the Congress won 14 seats and IUML-2. The CPI(M), BJP, RSP and Kerala Congress won one seat each.

Acknowledging that the Left front suffered a major defeat as it won only one seat, the CPI(M) state secretary said that the party and the LDF would introspect and examine why it lost and will take appropriate steps to regain its hold in Kerala.

"We had lost in the 2019 LS polls, but came back strongly and won in the state assembly and local body elections after that. We will do so this time also," he stated confidently.

Govindan said that the LDF will also examine how the vote share of the BJP increased in many constituencies.

Regarding the defeat of CPI(M) leader K K Shailaja in Vadakara LS seat, he said that the Congress used communal tactics to win there and the public failed to see through it.

He also took a swipe at the media, saying that their predictions about the poll outcome went wrong as the BJP could not win enough seats to form a government on its own even though the exit polls said they would get between 350 and 400 seats.

Govindan further claimed that the media acted as allies of the Congress and the BJP while reporting news, despite which the vote share of the LDF decreased only by one per cent.

CPI(M)'s V Joy, who lost by a very small margin in the Attingal LS seat, said that in many religious minority dominated areas, people voted for the Congress and this was one of the reasons for the defeat of the LDF. "Despite that, we put up a strong fight," he said.

Joy too was the view that the BJP vote share increased in the state due to the votes lost by the Congress.

He also said that some Hindu votes were lost due to the Hindutva campaign of the BJP. "The party will examine all this," he said.

The LDF could not better its 2019 show, winning just one seat on both occasions.

While the CPI(M)-led alliance won from Alappuzha in 2019, it could manage only Alathur this time.