Thiruvananthapuram: CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan on Friday claimed that the LDF would win 18 seats in the Lok Sabha polls for which polling was held on April 23.
Kodiyeri was briefing the media about the evaluation done by the state secretariat on the voting pattern across the state. “The trend resembles 2004 situation. There was minority consolidation and many sections of society voted for us. A similar situation prevails today,” he added.
He said in 2004 BJP got 12 percent votes and the seats of LDF increased. But in 2009, they secured 6.5 per cent resulting in the Left candidates losing in many constituencies.
However, sources said the realistic assessment of the party is that LDF would win six to seven seats for sure.
The constituencies the CPM is hoping to win include Kasargod, Palakkad, Alathur, Attingal, Alappuzha and Thrissur. The party also believes that there is a high probability of winning Kozhikode.
The CPM leader said the consolidation of majority votes had not happened. The votes of majority community got divided three-way.
Though the BJP and UDF traded votes in some of the constituencies, the LDF managed to overcome that by mobilising additional support. He said the BJP will come third in Thiruvanant-hpuram, Pathanamthitta and Thrissur. However, its vote share is likely to increase.
Kodiyeri said many factors favoured the LDF. There was consolidation of Left forces and Left thinking people. There is a section within the Left which has always opposed the CPM. However, they came out in support this time. Some of the community organisations which were maintaining a distance from the Left , supported the LDF candidates.
The CPM state secretary said NSS maintained its equidistance policy thro-ughout the polls.
On the impact Rahul Gandhi’s candidature, he said it would be limited only to Wayanad. Kodiyeri said barring some glitches, the entire election process passed off peacefully.
The party congratulated the Chief Electoral Officer and his team for the smooth conduct of the elections.
