Kerala Assembly Elections | Not ready for a third force

There seems to be little desire for an alternative to the LDF and UDF

Kerala, which has been dominated by two alliances, saw the Prime Minister call for a third alternative in the State while launching his party’s campaign. However, the BJP failed to save the lone seat of Nemom it won in 2016. Despite a campaign revolving around the Sabarimala temple row, ‘love jihad’ and corruption cases against the Left, it did not succeed in attracting voters. It saw only a marginal increase in its vote share. On being asked whether there is a need for a third alternative in Kerala’s politics, more than half the respondents (56%) disagreed and one-third (33%) agreed. Even among those who agreed, the vote was split equally among the three alliances. Among those who did not respond to the question, LDF had a clear advantage with 46% of the votes in its favour (Table 1).