Congress-led UDF blames CPI(M) for BJP's vote share increase and Thrissur win

Thiruvananthapuram, Jun 6 (PTI) A day after the ruling CPI(M) in Kerala blamed the Congress-led UDF for the BJP increasing its vote share and winning a seat in the state in the Lok Sabha polls, the grand old party hit back by accusing the Left front of having a secret arrangement with the saffron party.

UDF convener M M Hassan said that the alleged arrangement between the Left party and the BJP was the reason for actor Suresh Gopi winning the Thrissur LS seat.

'Gifted by CPI(M)'

"The BJP did not win the Thrissur LS seat. It was gifted to them by Pinarayi Vijayan and the CPI(M)," he alleged at a press conference.

He said that the CPI(M) had in 2021 won in the assembly constituencies coming under the Thrissur LS seat, but in the 2024 general elections, the BJP was at the top in most of those areas.

"This was the outcome of the arrangement between the CPI(M) and the BJP. The arrangement is also evident from the fact that Vijayan only attacked the Congress and Rahul Gandhi in connection with the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and not Narendra Modi or his government which implemented the contentious legislation," Hassan said.

The UDF convener said that the Congress led in 110 of the 140 assembly constituencies in the state, LDF in 19 and the BJP in 11.

The BJP's vote share increased due to the votes that leaked from the CPI(M) and not the Congress, he said.

Communal tensions

He also accused the CPI(M) of trying to create communal tensions in Vadakara LS seat by levelling false accusations against the Congress candidate from there.

"However, it was not successful as the Congress candidate from Vadakara won by a huge margin," Hassan said.

He said the LS polls were an evaluation of the LDF rule in Kerala and that of the BJP at the Centre.

A day ago, on Wednesday, the CPI(M) had claimed that the LDF only lost one per cent of its vote share as compared to the 2019 results and it was the UDF that lost five per cent of its votes.

CPI(M) blames Cong for BJP's gain

CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan had claimed that the BJP was able to open its account in Kerala by winning the Thrissur Lok Sabha seat due to the Congress losing over 80,000 of its votes in that constituency.

Govindan had said that the LDF will also examine how the vote share of the BJP increased in many constituencies.

Regarding the defeat of CPI(M) leader K K Shailaja to Congress' Shafi Parambil in Vadakara LS seat, he had alleged that the grand old party used communal tactics to win there and the public failed to see through it. PTI