Ezhava votes helped NDA make gains in Kerala

KOCHI: The BJP, which raised its vote share close to 20% in this elections, feels that the overwhelming support of the Ezhava community helped it make major gains in Alappuzha, Alathur, Attingal and Kottayam, besides winning Thrissur. However, the NDA is disappointed with its performance in Pathanamthitta, Kottayam and Chalakudy.

It seems the Christian outreach programme, launched with much fanfare, did not favour BJP at least in Central Kerala. While Gopi got the support of Ezhava and Christian communities in Thrissur, the picture was different in Chalakudy, Kottayam and Pathanamthitta. Differences of opinion between Christians and SNDP Yogam in Kottayam and Pathanamthitta could have worked against the party.

BDJS president Thushar Vellappally, who is also vice president of the SNDP Yogam, could garner Ezhava votes. There are indications at least a section of the community, the traditional vote base of CPM, has started leaning towards BJP.

While Thushar managed to garner a considerable number of Ezhava votes in Kottayam, he seemingly didn’t get the support of Christian community. BDJS leaders refused to comment on his lacklustre performance. In Chalakudy, BDJS candidate K A Unnikrishnan polled only 1,06,400 votes as against 1,54,159 votes polled by A N Radhakrishnan in 2019. The presence of AAP candidate affected the tally of all parties.

The biggest disappointment for NDA was Pathanamthitta where its vote share declined by 63,298 votes. BJP fielded Anil Antony hoping to tap into Christian votes, but failed to get their support and lost the backing of the Ezhava community. There is a feeling among BJP leaders that the party would have performed well had it fielded former Janapaksham leader P C George who joined the party recently.