Begin typing your search above and press return to search.
proflie-avatar
Login
exit_to_app
The smouldering of anger in Ladakh
access_time 29 March 2024 4:20 AM GMT
Democracy that banks on the electorate
access_time 28 March 2024 5:34 AM GMT
Lessons to learn from Moscow terror attack
access_time 27 March 2024 6:10 AM GMT
Gaza
access_time 26 March 2024 4:34 AM GMT
The poison is not in words, but inside
access_time 25 March 2024 5:42 AM GMT
DEEP READ
Schools breeding hatred
access_time 14 Sep 2023 10:37 AM GMT
Ukraine
access_time 16 Aug 2023 5:46 AM GMT
Ramadan: Its essence and lessons
access_time 13 March 2024 9:24 AM GMT
When ‘Jai Sree Ram’ becomes a death call
access_time 15 Feb 2024 9:54 AM GMT
exit_to_app
Homechevron_rightKeralachevron_rightDespite defeat, BJP...

Despite defeat, BJP smiles in Kerala

text_fields
bookmark_border
Despite defeat, BJP smiles in Kerala
cancel

Thiruvananthapuram: Veteran BJP leader O. Rajagopal finished third in Aruvikara constituency in Kerala on Tuesday but the party's vote share saw a significant five-fold increase from 2011.

The development stunned both the Congress, whose K.S Sabarinathan won the seat by 10,128 votes, and the Left. Sabarinathan got 56,448 votes with CPI-M leader M. Vijayakumar finishing second with 46,320 votes.

The 85-year-old Rajagopal polled 34,145 votes, against the around 7,000 votes the party got in the 2011 assembly elections.

The BJP is yet to open its account in the 140-member Kerala assembly.

"I am sad we could not finish in the second place but the writing on the wall for the Oommen Chandy government is clear that corruption will not be tolerated," said Rajagopal.

Rajagopal has contested more than half a dozen elections in Kerala. He lost the 2014 Lok Sabha election to Congress candidate Shashi Tharoor by a mere 15,000 votes.

"We are the only party to see a huge growth in our voter base in Aruvikara," Bharatiya Janata Party state president V. Muraleedharan told IANS.

Chief Minister Oommen Chandy played down the performance of Rajagopal, saying the votes had been secured by him in view of his stature and not by the BJP.

"The CPI-M's negative campaign also helped the BJP," said Chandy.

CPI-M state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said there were a lot of undercurrents in the constituency on caste creed and communal lines. "This does not augur well," he said.

The BJP has been trying its best for years to make an electoral mark in Kerala, where the two main contenders for power are the Congress-led United Democratic Front and the Left Democratic Front of the CPI-M.

Show Full Article
Next Story