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 Kerala voters driven by Sabarimala in Pathanamthitta

Rahul in Wayanad
Last Updated 24 April 2019, 14:24 IST

While Kerala witnessed an overall increase of 3.66 % in the voter turnout in Lok Sabha polls held on Tuesday, the highest increase of over 8% was at Pathanamthitta where the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple is situated, followed by 7% at Wayanad where Congress president Rahul Gandhi is contesting. The overall polling percentage in Kerala was 77.68 per cent, while it was 74.02 in 2014.

Sabarimala women entry issue is the obvious reason for higher voter turnout in Pathanamthitta, which recorded the lowest turnout in Kerala in the 2009 and 2014 Lok Sabha polls. But that did not give enough reasons for the BJP to pin hopes of opening account to Lok Sabha from Kerala as the voting patterns in assembly segments indicate higher turnout at Christian and Muslim dominated areas.

According to local Congress sources, there has been growing concern among the minority communities against the BJP's Hindutva agenda. This triggered further with the massive roadshow carried out by BJP president Amit Shah in Pathanamthitta couple of days ahead of the polls and making a call that the BJP candidate in Pathanamthitta K Surendran, who led the Sabarimala stirs, was a representative of believers.

In Thiruvananthapuram, a seat where the BJP has high hopes, a similar minority vote consolidation seemed to have happened. Higher polling was recorded at Muslim and Christian-dominated coastal areas and rural parts. However, the BJP made serious attempts to make inroads into these Congress vote banks. The BJP hopes to get more votes in Attingal and Thrissur where there was over 5% increase in polling.

Rahul wave is considered to be the lone factor for the over 7% increase in polling at Wayanad. Many voters, especially youngsters, considered it a chance to vote for a probable future prime minister. The Congress activists are confident of Rahul winning with a majority of over 3 lakh votes.

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(Published 24 April 2019, 07:20 IST)

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