While the Congress leadership in Kerala sees the thumping victory of Congress over the BJP in Karnataka as a trendsetter for the whole country, the CPM state leadership expressed happiness over making South India "BJP-free".
CPM state secretary M V Govindan said that the Karnataka election result cannot, however, be considered a pro-Congress trend for the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
"The CPM is happy that with the defeat in Karnataka, South India has become BJP-free. However, in the Lok Sabha elections, local factors will influence the voters in each state," Govindan said.
Meanwhile, opposition leader V D Satheesan of Congress said that the people's mandate in Karnataka would not be limited to that state alone. "One of the biggest campaigns of the Congress against the BJP government in Karnataka was '40 per cent commission sarkara'. The CPM government in Kerala is facing '65 per cent commission' charges. The Congress will raise this campaign against the CPM government in Kerala," Satheesan said.
"The election results gave a boost for the Congress to face the 2024 elections unitedly," Kerala PCC president K Sudhakaran said.