The high-decibel campaign for the 2024 Lok Sabha election in Kerala turned out to be a damp squib as the State registered 71.16 per cent polling in the 20 constituencies which is almost seven per cent less than what was recorded in the 2019 polls. Though both the CPI (M) and the Congress fronts were harping on secularism, pluralism, democracy and Constitution, the electorate seemed to be least interested in these elements.
But both the fronts continued to exude their confidence and claimed that they would make a clean sweep of all the 20 seats even as the UDF expressed concern over the polling percentage. The BJP-led NDA is the only front which did not bother about the prospects of the candidates fielded by it because it is almost certain that the Hindutva party would not win even a single seat in the hustings.
An important point to be noted is the pattern of voting in the State. "There are 2.77 crore voters in the State out of which 1.97 crore exercised their franchise. This includes 1.02 crore women voters and 9.5 million men which gave the women a slight edge over their men counterparts. How the women voters cast their votes would be discussed in detail after the results are announced.
Interestingly, in this era of 24X7 news channels and world of you tubes there were many voters who were ignorant of the names of the NDA candidates. P Venugopal, former IAF engineer, who settled in Perumbavoor recently, told The Pioneer that he was not aware of the presence of the NDA candidate and the symbol. "I searched for the Lotus symbol which was not there in the EVM. The polling agents of the NDA had not contacted us even once while the LDF and UDF agents visited our house at least two dozen times and even held family meetings in the area to brief the electorate why they should vote for the fronts led by them," said Venugopal.
When the candidate K A Unnikrishnan was asked about this faux pas, his reply was: "You could have intimated me this information at least on Wednesday so that I could have directed the agent to call on that area." All four candidates belonging to the BJDS (the allies of the BJP) would surely bite the dust in the election, said even hardcore BJP activists.
Though the poll managers blame the high temperature for the fall in voters' turn out, Opposition leader VD Satheeshan (Congress) called for a high level probe into the phenomenon. But veteran poll pundits like P Sujathan are of the view that the fall in polling percentage would not make any major difference in the final outcome. "There is a fall of six per cent in the polling compared to the 2019 election. We used to consider the increase in polling as an indication of the change which is in the offing but not anymore. The polling percentage fell because of the scorching heat, lackadaisical approach of the Congress and absence of enthusiasm. Had it been Assembly election, we would have seen a heavy turnout because of the strong anti-incumbency wave against the CPI (M) Government," said Sujathan.
He pointed out that the general impression about 2024 election is that the BJP would retain power and Narendra Modi will become the Prime Minister for third time in a row. "This is what the Congress and the CPI (M) leaders told me," said Sujathan.
Before signing off, Sujathan expressed hope that the BJP is likely to win one seat. "This is the maximum they could hope for as Modi alone would not be able to make them victorious. The present leadership of Kerala BJP is incapable, inefficient and inept in winning any election on its own and this has left the people with no alternative other than the Congress and the CPI (M)." he said. Kerala rendezvous with Lotus may have to wait for years as the present State leadership is a millstone around their neck.
