Kozhikode: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah may have tweeted lauding the party’s State unit for its performance in the recent local body polls. But sources say the BJP central leadership feels that the State unit needs to focus more on building its image and support base evenly across the State.
Post-poll analyses show that the BJP made good strides in garnering 26,31,271 votes (against the Left Democratic Front’s 74,01,160 and United Democratic Front’s 73,76,752 votes) in the State.
In the municipalities and corporations, the party secured 6,41,198 votes (LDF 14,62,902 and UDF 15,03,343) whereas in the three-tier panchayats it polled 19,90,073 votes (LDF 59,38,258 and UDF 58,73,409).
It registered a vote share of 13 per cent in rural areas and 15 per cent in urban regions.
In terms of winning seats, the party made substantial gains in Thiruvanthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Thrissur, Palakkad, and Kasaragod.
However, there could be no denying that its performance in Ernakulam, Idukki, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, and Kannur has been dismal.
The BJP won seven seats in Kozhikode Corporation. But taking the district as a whole, its nominees got elected in 13 wards in grama panchayats.
Its performance was similar in neighbouring Kannur, Malappuram, and Wayanad districts.
In Ernakulam, it got 46 grama panchayat seats, 23 municipal seats, and two seats in Kochi Corporation.
Scope for improvement
While admitting that the party had ‘tremendous room for improvement,’ BJP national executive member and former State president P.K. Krishnadas said Statewide the party had been able to sustain the momentum of the Lok Sabha polls last year.
Assembly segment-wise, the BJP fetched between 25 and 30 per cent of the vote share in about 20 out of the 140 seats.
“If there is no cross-voting involving both the UDF and LDF, which usually happens in Assembly polls to prevent the BJP from winning, we may be able to bag at least 15 seats in the 2016 elections,” he told The Hindu over phone from New Delhi on Wednesday.
Slew of projects
The Central leadership has chalked out multiple plans to reach out to the electorate of the State before the elections. The visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the State on December 15 to unveil a statue of former Chief Minister R. Shanker will have political significance, Mr. Krishnadas said.
Mr. Krishnadas said the Prime Minister is also expected to announce a slew of projects for the State. A combination of factors including building new political alliances apart from an understanding with the SNDP Yogam is on the anvil, he added.
The visit of Prime Minister on December 15 will have political significance
