Kochi : Despite importing Prime Minister and UP Chief Minister’s for firebrand communal addresses in state, BJP’’s votes in 94 constituencies slid lower than its numbers five years ago. Of these, vote counts in 20 constituencies witnessed 10,000 - 20,000 fewer votes this time, And that excludes Thalassery where the party failed to find even a proxy this time and ending up with zero. Of the 14 from the remaining 45 constituencies, though votes counted higher, the increase over 2016 was lesser than 500 votes.
Rejected by people for habitual vote trading, the 2021 election statistics points to the brink BJP stands on now. BJP’s biggest loss came from Kaipamangalam with a margin that fell by 20,975 votes. And, it ceded its sole sitting seat of Nemom by a reduced margin figuring 15,925.
Other constituencies that saw fall by over 10,000 votes are : Guruvayur(19,196), Idukki(18117), Vaikom(18114), Kuttanad(18098), Poonjar(17001), Paravur(15133), Udumbanchola(14591), Kundara(14157), Pala(13794), Kalamassery(13065), Sultan Bateri(12722), Kovalam(12323), Iravipuram(11246), Aroori(10274).
The party saw vote margin rise above 10,000 in just 4 constituencies in all.
And, one among that is Konni where K Surendran contested from. Here, although tje vote share fared higher than in 2016 Assembly elections, the numbers fell by 6975 votes compared to 2019 by-elections. That leaves just Palakkad, Thrissur and Chirakankeezh as constituencies with above 10k-rise from last held elections for Assembly.
Places that fared with reduced votes than 2016 include constituencies contested by national leaders Shobha Surendran, PK Krishnadas, VV Rajesh, and AN Radhakrishnan.
By same measure, LDF garnered greater vote margin than 2016 in 104 of the total 140 Assembly constituencies.
