The Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)], Congress, and the BJP — the main parties leading the Left Democratic Front (LDF), the United Democratic Front (UDF), and the National Democratic Alliance respectively — have begun analysis of the Lok Sabha election results in Kozhikode district, and deliberations for the way forward.
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CPI(M) sources said that the data pertaining to votes garnered by Elamaram Kareem and K.K. Shailaja, the LDF candidates in Kozhikode and Vadakara respectively, had been consolidated along with projections from the ground level on the election day and the statistics in the 2019 elections. These would be shared with the central committee, which is expected to come up with a detailed review. Deliberations would be held based on the review, they added.
Mr. Kareem lost to M.K. Raghavan (UDF) by 1,46,176 votes and Ms. Shailaja lost to Shafi Parambil (UDF) by 1,14,506 votes. The CPI(M) is reported to have suffered significant erosion of its traditional vote base in both these constituencies. This is important because the party is in power in a majority of local bodies in the district and 11 of the 13 MLAs in the district belong to the LDF. Ms. Shailaja and Mr. Kareem could not get a lead in most of the Assembly constituencies represented by LDF legislators as well.
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For the Congress, it is the fourth consecutive win for their candidates in the Lok Sabha elections since 2009. K. Praveenkumar, district Congress committee president, said on Tuesday that the victory would have a bearing on the local body polls in 2025 and the Assembly elections in 2026. The Congress does not have a legislator in Kozhikode since 2001. That situation would change, Mr. Praveenkumar said. The party would win elections to the Kozhikode Corporation, district panchayat, and a majority of block and grama panchayats in the district. He said that district-level brainstorming sessions would be held after August-September and a new DCC office too would be opened by then.
Meanwhile, the BJP is elated over the increased vote share and the number of votes registered by its candidates, M.T. Ramesh in Kozhikode and C.R. Praphul Krishnan in Vadakara, compared with its nominees in 2019. While Mr. Ramesh got a vote share of 16.57% and 1,80,66 votes compared with K.P. Prakash Babu (14.97% and 1,61,216 votes), Mr. Krishnan managed to get a vote share of 9.97% and polled 1,11, 979 votes compared with V.K. Sajeevan (7.58% and 80,128 votes).
Mr. Sajeevan, who is also the BJP district president, told The Hindu that the BJP had emerged as a “winnable party” in Kerala now, getting votes from all sections of society, including the youth, women, and the minorities. “In Kozhikode, our candidates were way ahead in some of the booths considered to be strongholds of the CPI(M). This is a morale booster ahead of the local body polls and Assembly polls,” he added.