Kannur: Kerala former health minister KK Shailaja, who was the LDF candidate in Vadakara, said the trend in Kerala favouring UDF in Lok Sabha elections repeated this time too. She was responding to the media after her opponent UDF's Shafi Parambil secured an unassailable lead.
Accepting her defeat in the elections, she said she lost to the UDF wave in the state. "The current trend shows the UDF winning all seats except Alathur. INDIA bloc fought well in the polls. People consider the Congress to replace the BJP in power. We used to see a Congress wave in all Lok Sabha elections. The same trend repeated this time. Shafi is leading in Vadakara. I think the trend will persist,” said Shailaja.
At the same time, she condemned the cyber attack against her during the election campaign.
“False campaigns through new-age media influenced the voters. A lie can travel halfway around the world before the truth puts on its shoes. We couldn't challenge it,” she added.
According to the Election Commission data Shafi polled 4,82,44 votes and led Shailaja with 1,00,882 votes. NDA's Praphul Krishnan secured 93,240 votes.
On Sunday, Manorama News-VMR exit polls predicted that LDF candidate Shailaja will beat UDF's Shafi with 41.56 per cent of those who participated in the poll voting for the former health minister. UDF secured 39.65 per cent votes. The survey showed a sharp rise in the vote share for the NDA. The saffron party’s votes more than doubled to 17.69 per cent from 7.52 per cent.