UDF eyes 2019 feat, LDF a rebound, BJP a toehold in Kerala

With the clock ticking down to the Lok Sabha election counting day on Tuesday, opposing fronts are perceptibly edgy and poised to continue the rancorous skirmishing that marked the campaign season in Kerala. The United Democratic Front, led by the Congress, is seemingly basking in the “interim victory” granted by various exit polls. The UDF discerns that its poll strategy of turning the polls foremostly into a damning referendum on the Left Democratic Front government’s perceived failures rather than BJP’s “divisive politics” at the national level stood a fighting chance of paying off.

With the clock ticking down to the Lok Sabha election counting day on Tuesday, opposing fronts are perceptibly edgy and poised to continue the rancorous skirmishing that marked the campaign season in Kerala.

The United Democratic Front, led by the Congress, is seemingly basking in the “interim victory” granted by various exit polls. The UDF discerns that its poll strategy of turning the polls foremostly into a damning referendum on the Left Democratic Front government’s perceived failures rather than BJP’s “divisive politics” at the national level stood a fighting chance of paying off.

Notably, the ruling front and Opposition appear unnerved by some exit poll predictions that the BJP is poised to gain a toehold in Kerala.

The opposing alliances have reiterated in almost one voice that the results are not a foregone conclusion, as some agencies projected. 

Congress leader Sashi Tharoor, UDF’s candidate in the fiercely contested Thiruvananthapuram constituency, said exit polls were no accurate measure of public opinion and were “laughable”. LDF convener E P Jayarajan echoed a similar line. 

The BJP struck a different note. Buoyed by exit poll reports of a good showing, Mr. Tharoor’s BJP rival in Thiruvananthapuram, Rajeev Chandrasekhar facsimiled his party’s line that voters had shunned the LDF and UDF for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s development agenda and new political realignments were on the horizon in Kerala.

An LDF insider said the ruling front might consider one seat, as predicted by some pollsters, the status quo and any additional wins a bonus, given its dismal showing in the 2019 polls.