BJP's assessment: Will win Thiruvananthapuram and Thrissur by getting four lakh votes; vote share will increase to 22 percent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: BJP estimates that Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar will win in Thiruvananthapuram and Suresh Gopi in Thrissur by getting four lakh votes each. UDF will be second in both places.

Based on the figures obtained from the booth level, the election review meeting assessed that there could be an overthrow of power in Attingal where Union Minister V Muraleedharan contested and in Pathanamthitta where AK Antony's son Anil Antony was fielded. The leaders claimed in the press conference that BJP will win in five places. The fifth win will be at Alappuzha contested by Shobha Surendran.

The leaders in charge of the constituencies submitted comprehensive reports and reached conclusions through discussions evaluating the figures and indications obtained based on that report. The figures obtained from the booth level indicate that the BJP will make a big advance by winning 22 percent of the votes in the state. 31.80 lakh votes were obtained in the last Lok Sabha elections. It is estimated that it will be 41 lakh to 44 lakh this time.

BJP managed to make big advance in Attingal contested by Union Minister V Muraleedharan. It is estimated that BJP will come first in Varkala, Attingal and Chirayinkeezhu. In Pathanamthitta, Anil Antony has made strides to surpass the 2,97,000 votes previously secured by K Surendran. According to the booth-level report, if the Orthodox, Nair and Ezhava votes are divided, BJP will get it. The report said that there was good performance in Palakkad and Alappuzha.

It was felt in the meeting that although there were some organizational failures, it did not cause any significant crisis in the campaign. There was criticism for giving too much importance to the EP Jayarajan issue. Prakash Javadekar suggested that the BJP should avoid the situation where the unnecessary statements of the Congress and CPM leaders gain importance by party reacting to them. Senior leaders like MT Ramesh, PK Krishna Das, AN Radhakrishnan etc. were absent from the meeting.

In Thiruvananthapuram where BJP got 3,16,000 votes last time, it will get close to four lakh votes. BJP will have a lead to win from Nemam Vattiyoorkavu, Kazhakoottam and Thiruvananthapuram City and will come second in Neyyattinkara. No progress is expected in Kovalam and Parassala.

In Thrissur, it is estimated that BJP will come first in Manalur, Iringalakuda, Thrissur and Legislative Assembly constituencies and second in Nattika and Pudukkad.