Kerala Assembly Election Results 2021: Why BJP failed to retain its only seat in the state

BJP state president K Surendran had claimed that the party would get up to 40 seats in Kerala

Counter-consolidation of minority communities, division of votes in triangular fights and infighting within the party are said to be the main reasons behind the BJP's failure to retain its lone seat in Kerala.

Even as BJP state president K Surendran claimed that the party would get up to 40 seats in Kerala, party insiders said at least five to 10 seats could make the BJP stronger.

In 2016, apart from winning the Nemom seat in Thiruvananthapuram, the saffron party came second in seven seats. This time, although the party lost Nemom, it came second in nine places. This includes Nemom, as well as the seven places where it came second in 2016. Hence, party insiders feel that the 'zero tally' wrongly conveys that the BJP is not growing in Kerala. Once the vote share of the party is available, a clearer picture will emerge.

Meanwhile, the key reason for BJP's Kummanam Rajasekharan getting defeated at Nemom was the higher number of votes secured by UDF candidate; Congress MP K Muraleedharan finished third. Last time, the UDF fielded a weak candidate at Nemom, who secured only around 13,860 votes, while Muraleedharan secured over 35,000 votes this time. The total votes secured by the BJP candidate came down by over 15,000 compared to last time, whereas LDF candidate V Sivankutty secured around 5,000 votes less than that in 2016, but emerged as the winner this time.

Also read: Kerala Assembly Elections 2021: Pinarayi Vijayan, the undoubted CM of Kerala this time

Metro Man E Sreedharan had put up an impressive fight at Palakkad as sitting MLA Shafi Parambil's lead was reduced to around 3,500 from 17,400 last time. Sreedharan was maintaining a lead almost till the final hours of counting.

The most embarrassing defeat for the BJP is that of Surendran at Manjeshwar and Konni. Surendran lost by just 89 votes at Majeshwaram last time; this time, he lost by around 1,200 votes. At Konni, where the BJP had hoped to take advantage of the Sabarimala issue, he came third after securing only around 20,000 votes; the Congress candidate who won secured over 40,000 votes.