Kozhikode: UDF candidate M K Raghavan will retain Kozhikode seat in the Lok Sabha elections with a majority vote of 46.16 per cent, predicted Manorama News – VMR exit polls. His opponent Elamaram Kareem of LDF will secure only 34.39 per cent of the votes. As per the survey, LDF will face a major debacle in the polls as UDF's vote share will go up by 11.77 per cent.
The vote share of the BJP-led NDA indicates that Modi Ki guarantee has influenced the voters as the front will mark a rise in its vote share compared to the 2019 elections. This time, NDA candidate MT Ramesh will secure 17.75 per cent of the votes (14.97 pc in 2019 elections).
Sitting MP M K Raghavan had trounced CPM’s A K Pradeepkumar by a margin of 85, 225 votes in 2019, which also gave him a hat-trick of wins from the seat.
In his maiden electoral foray in 2009, Raghavan had defeated PWD and Tourism minister Mohammed Riyas by a wafer-thin margin of 838 votes. In 2014, when CPM politburo member A Vijaraghavan became the LDF candidate, Raghavan’s victory margin increased to 16,883.
