Kochi/Kottayam: The ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) on Sunday said the electoral fight in the 18th Lok Sabha election in Kerala will be between the Left and the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF), and dismissed the role the BJP is trying to claim in the state's politics.
Talking to the media, CPI(M) State Secretary M V Govindan dismissed the saffron party's claim that it will bag at least 10 seats from Kerala this time, and said, "They (BJP) will not get a single seat from here".
Echoing similar views, LDF ally Kerala Congress (Mani) group leader Jose K Mani said the BJP has been "hijacking democracy" across the country and urged the people to beware of the defection of UDF leaders.
Govindan said the electorate in Kerala votes for the policies and ideologies of parties and not based on leaders or candidates.
"The BJP is claiming that they will get more than 10 seats. Actually they won't get a single seat from Kerala. The people vote for the policies of political parties. The fight in Kerala is between the LDF and the UDF," Govindan said, dismissing the saffron party's attempt to claim any space in the electoral picture in the state.
Mani warned the people about candidates who may defect and asked the voters to keep that in mind while exercising their ballot.
"The BJP is hijacking democracy. If we look at the last 10 years, we can see many leaders from various political parties and even independent candidates defecting to the BJP," Mani said.
In an apparent reference to Congress leaders Padmaja Venugopal and two others who recently joined the saffron party, Mani said, "Even now, senior leaders of the UDF are joining the BJP. "There are independent candidates contesting this election and people should keep this in mind while going to vote in the election," Mani added.
Published 17 March 2024, 16:01 IST