UDF victory gives BJP a wakeup call in Palakkad

United Democratic Front (UDF) candidate Rahul Mamkootathil’s historic victory in Palakkad Assembly byelection has given a shock to the BJP as that party found itself gazing at the erosion of its vote share in Palakkad municipality.

The fissures within the BJP, including the desertion of its former spokesperson Sandeep Varier, had sent warning bells to the party leadership, prompting the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to intervene and oversee the electioneering work for C. Krishnakumar.

Although the BJP leadership claimed that nothing happened to the party’s base in Palakkad and that it retained its vote share by polling 39,549 votes, the fall in Mr. Krishnakumar’s votes in Palakkad municipality has given jitters to the leadership, especially as the local body elections are approaching.

The BJP’s vote share in Palakkad took a significant hit, with C. Krishnakumar securing 39,549 votes, a substantial decline from the 50,220 votes Metroman E. Sreedharan garnered for the party in 2021. This translates to a drop of 10,671 votes, a considerable loss for the BJP.

Even when the BJP leadership is trying to ascribe the reason for that vote share to Mr. Sreedharan’s personal charm, the erosion of its votes in the municipality is posing a big challenge for the party. Although the leadership is brushing aside the threat raised by Mr. Varier as insignificant, the party is worried about the seething discontentment within.

Mr. Varier claims himself to be in touch with the BJP’s 28 councillors in Palakkad municipality. He says he has a considerable influence with most of them. His statement soon after his transition to the Congress that “yeh to trailer hai, picture abhi baaki hai” was viewed as the potential damage he could do to the BJP in Palakkad municipality.

When the votes were counted in 14 rounds at Government Victoria College here on Saturday, never once did Mr. Krishnakumar take a lead of more than 1,500 votes over Mr. Mamkootathil. In fact, the BJP secured slender leads only in two rounds: round one and five.

Left Democratic Front (LDF)’s P. Sarin, who secured only 27 per cent votes to be satisfied with the third position, had gained advantage over his UDF rival in three rounds: round 11, 12 and 13.

Although the BJP and the UDF alternated its thin leads in the first seven rounds of counting, the UDF’s upswing was conspicuous from the eighth round, when the votes from Pirayiri panchayat began to be counted. After that there was no stopping for Mr. Mamkootathil, in spite of the LDF surges in 11, 12 and 13 rounds.

Although some BJP functionaries have ensured that the party votes were polled without any loss, some were happy about the defeat of Mr. Krishnakumar.

Published - November 23, 2024 08:55 pm IST