Idukki: The ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the opposition United Democratic Front stares at the prospect of a huge drain in vote share in the hilly Lok Sabha constituency of Idukki, as per the estimates of the ManoramaNews-VMR exit polls.

The drain in votes from the kitty of both fronts also means that the incumbent MP Dean Kuriakose of the Congress will have smooth sailing in the just concluded Lok Sabha polls. Dean is poised to record 14 per cent more votes than nearest rival Joyce George of the LDF, the survey revealed.

Dean will retain the seat for the second time in a row, but the alarm bells should ring in both the major political fronts in the state as BDJS candidate Sangeetha Viswanathan has come out with a stellar performance for the NDA.

As per the poll, 43.69 per cent of voters favoured Dean while Joyce got only 30.31 per cent, but Sangeetha has gathered more than a fifth of the total votes polled–21.2 per cent.

The percentage difference between the UDF and the LDF is 13.38. This is the third time that Dean and Joyce are contesting against each other in Idukki.

In 2014, when the Kasturirangan report on ecological preservation of Western Ghats roiled the constituency, Joyce was the winner.

Tables turned in 2019 when Dean recorded a victory margin of 1,71,053 votes. As the UDF candidate dean got 4,98, 493 votes against Joyce’s 3,27,440. Biju Krishnan of BDJS polled 78,648 votes.

The NDA’s 2019 vote share of 8.56 per cent has soared to 12.65 per cent this time, as per the exit poll. The vote percentage of the UDF eroded 10.51 per cent and the LDF saw a dip of 5.29 per cent.