Kerala election results 2024: For first time in God's Own Country, lotus blooms as Left wilts, UDF retains its share

KOCHI: UDF won 18 out of 20 seats in Kerala, almost mirroring its 19-1 sweep in 2019, but the jubilation was overshadowed by nothing short of a historic BJP win in Thrissur, a prestigious constituency with almost 50% minority votes and where the three-cornered contest was supposed to underline that, try as they might, the saffron party's polarising politics had no place in this 'progressive' state.

The UDF won by an above-1 lakh margin in 11 of 18 constituencies, including in Wayanad where Rahul Gandhi trumped his nearest rival Annie Raja of CPI by 3,64,422 votes. UDF's second-biggest partner Muslim League retained its stranglehold on its fiefs Malappuram and Ponnani-winning by margins of 2,98,303 and 2,34,778 votes, respectively-amidst speculation that LDF was making substantial inroads among Malabar Muslims. In Thiruvananthapuram, three-time Congress MP Shashi Tharoor survived an early scare by finally defeating his nearest rival Rajeev Chandrasekhar of BJP by 15,000 votes, a steep fall from his handsome 90,000 plus margin in 2019.
The LDF, in contrast, barely saved face with a win at the Alathur reserved seat where K Radhakrishnan, a minister in the Pinarayi cabinet, won by 19,587 votes and came excruciatingly close at Attingal, its candidate losing by just 1,708 votes. Alathur, interestingly, also saw the largest number of NOTA votes in the state at 12,033. The LDF's Lok Sabha campaign, led by the chief minister from the front, had banked on an aggressive strategy to cast itself as the sole protector of minorities and champion of secularism but failed miserably.
The bulk of Muslim and Christian votes appeared to have gone UDF's way.
BJP-led NDA had put up a stiff fight in all 20 constituencies this time and had expected to come a close second in Thiruvananthapuram and Thrissur. In the event, actor-turned politician Suresh Gopi's triumph in Thrissur by a margin of 74,686 votes was as surprising as sensational.
Surprising, because he was ranged against two formidable candidates, while 39% of the electorate in the constituency comprises minority votes-16% Christian and 23% Muslim votes. BJP had pursued an aggressive statewide strategy of seeking Christian support and it appears to have paid dividends, especially among its more affluent sections in Thrissur.