BJP ends political drought in Kerala, increases vote share to 19.38%

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Unlike their usual run-of-the-mill performance in Kerala, the BJP this time not only increased their vote share but also registered a historic win in Thrissur. In 2019, the saffron party’s vote share was just 15.64% which rose to 19.38% in 2024. The total votes in 2019 were 31.71 lakh and in 2024 it is 38.33 lakh.

The vote share is 35.04% for Congress, 25.8% for CPM, 6.15% for CPI and 6.08% for Muslim League. According to the Election Commission, Congress got 69,05,862 votes, CPM 50,84,14 and Muslim League 11,98,446.

Kerala BJP is now beaming with satisfaction for finally being able to subdue the antipathy generated by the citizens of the south against the saffron party. As of now, the party has a decisive presence in five constituencies. Suresh Gopi in Thrissur, Rajeev Chandrasekhar in Thiruvananthapuram, Anil Antony in Pathanamthitta, Shobha Surendran in Alappuzha and Muraleedharan in Attingal have increased acceptance of the BJP at the state level.

Apart from the meticulous candidate selection for the LS polls, it was the ‘Modi factor’ and his welfare schemes that helped the saffron party attain popularity among the masses in Kerala. Former Union Minister Prakash Javadekar's efforts to revamp the party structure also saw success and his crucial intervention to wheedle estranged leaders from other parties to BJP, also accentuated the party’s popularity in the state.

Former Chief Minister K. Karunakaran's daughter Padmaja, former Union Minister AK Antony's son Anil Antony, PC George and others were brought to the party during Javadekar’s tenure. A political kerfuffle also erupted after it was revealed that Javadekar also met CPM strongman E P Jayarajan.

Javadekar's old-school political tactics helped the saffron party win a seat in Thrissur and better their performance in Thiruvananthapuram and Attingal. He pulled off this feat at a time when strong leaders like Annamalai stumbled miserably in Tamil Nadu.