Congress alone left all LDF parties way behind with number of votes

Thiruvananthapuram: The combined power of the CPM, CPI and other allies of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) in Kerala couldn't even garner votes that opponent Congress, which heads the United Democratic Front (UDF), alone fetched in the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls.

Congress could secure 37.27 per cent of the votes, while the CPM-led LDF was able to win only 35.15 per cent polled in the state.

Both the CPM and the Congress had contested in 16 seats each. The CPM, which is the ruling party in Kerala, was dealt a humiliating defeat as it managed to win only a single seat. It allies drew a blank, thus the LDF combine lost 19 out of the 20 Lok Sabha seats as the results showed on May 23.

In one-third of the constituencies, the margin of votes between the UDF and LDF candidates is more than 10 per cent. In Wayanad, where Congress chief Rahul Gandhi contested, the difference was as high as 40 per cent. The other big margins are: Idukki (19%), Ernakulam (17%), Alathur and Thiruvananthapuram (16% each), Kollam (15%), Chalakudy (13%), and Kottayam (12%).

These wide victory margins points to the scale of the historic victory Congress managed in the state even as the party was routed elsewhere in the country, except Punjab and Tamil Nadu.

The CPM leadership is worried over the drubbing in the 2019 polls as the statistics of the past elections show that there was only minor difference between the two fronts.

In the past polls, even when one front wins more number of seats, the other alliance doesn't lag much behind in terms of vote share. So whenever it couldn't muster

many seats, the CPM used to justify its performance with the decent vote share. The CPM often fell back on this number ploy to claim victory even while facing defeat.

However, this time around the CPM is in no position to make any such tall claims, putting the leadership in a spot. This steep decline in vote share prompted the CPM to pinpoint the loss of traditional votes as the reason for the massive defeat.

These signs look ominously similar to those encountered by the Left in West Bengal. The loss of traditional votes was one of the first alarm signals for the Left in Bengal. This time it couldn't elect even a single representative to the Lok Sabha.

The only consolation for the LDF is that it was able to prevent a BJP victory in Kerala. The party is aware even that was also due to the faithful supporting the UDF.