Thiruvananthapuram: The BJP camp in Kerala is over the moon after exit polls predicted that the saffron combine would open its innings in Kerala. However, the ruling LDF and opposition UDF have rejected the projections.
The BJP feels the NDA candidates would win in Thrissur and Thiruvananthapuram, and if the exit polls are to be believed Attingal would also turn saffron. They are also perked up by the predictions that their vote share would also increase to 27 per cent from 15 per cent last time.
BJP leaders say that whoever wins, Kerala will get a Union Minister, and claim the Modi wave has had a positive impact in the state.
But the CPM has already dismissed the prognosis of a BJP win with party state secretary MV Govindan claiming that exit polls look like a 'mad-man's prediction.' The Congress-led UDF claimed that its candidate would win in all seats that the BJP is expected to win.
The prediction of a BJP gain with LDF expected to face a massive rout, came as a double whammy for the Left. Whoever loses votes in constituencies won by the BJP will have to bear the blame that they have paved the way for the saffron win. The UDF leadership has already alleged a BJP-LDF understanding.
LDF convener EP Jayarajan said the exit poll predictions were politically motivated and pollsters arrived at the conclusion not through some scientific findings or experiments. "I suspect it is politically motivated. All the exit polls have taken a stand that repeats and strengthens what the BJP has been saying till now (about the poll results). That is what makes it even more suspicious," he told a TV channel. Jayarajan said that, therefore, there should be extreme vigil during the counting process on June 4.
"The BJP has hardly any chance of opening its account in Kerala. The fact is that the BJP will not get even one seat in Kerala," he said. “Kerala is a secular state with a new generation that is highly educated and secular in its outlook. The society here does not wish for a communal party to win seats,” he added.
On Saturday, CPI National Council Secretary Binoy Viswam posted on X that the exit polls were "orchestrated" predictions that were part of a pre-designed strategy. “The exit polls were run by corporate houses, who have a political affinity for the BJP at their core. We, after observing the situation at the national level and studying the prospects of the INDIA parties, are almost confident that we are going to win," he told PTI.
Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala brushed aside the predictions and said the party does not trust these projections. He asserted that the UDF would win in all the 20 constituencies in Kerala and that the BJP “will not secure any seats in the state”.
