Pinarayi rejects anti-incumbency theory, asks UDF to study how BJP won in Thrissur | Kerala Assembly News

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday said the UDF should not confuse the Lok Sabha result with a verdict against the LDF government. Indirectly referring to the Muslim and Christian communities, the chief minister said they believe the Congress is best placed to expel the oppressive regime of Narendra Modi.

“Don’t get the impression that these people have anything against the left,” the prime minister said in response to a discussion in the Assembly about the subsidy demands in the budget. He chose events from past political history – from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala – to show how parties which had lost heavily in the Lok Sabha polls bounced back spectacularly in the Assembly elections held shortly after.

The Chief Minister then made a curious comparison to suggest that it was the UDF and not the Left that had suffered in the 2024 elections. He said that while the LDF’s votes fell by 4.92 lakh, the ‘UDF witnessed an erosion of 6.11 lakh. If the loss was 1.75% for the LDF, it was 2.11% for the UDF.

The problem with the CM’s logic is that it does not take into account the massive loss of the LDF in 2019. Then, the LDF saw its vote share drop by almost 4% and the UDF saw an increase of almost by 6%. The fall of Congress is from a high and the improvement of the left is from a low.

Besides claiming that the UDF fared worse, the chief minister also cited figures to show that it was the massive vote erosion in the Congress that led to the BJP’s victory in Thrissur. He said Congressional votes were down nearly 10 percent. The Congress votes had a huge impact in all Assembly segments in Thrissur, he said. On the other hand, the CM said LDF votes recorded an increase in all Assembly segments compared to 2019.

The CM also hinted that in Thrissur, the BJP could attract to its side the Christian community, which he said had opted for the Congress in the rest of Kerala.

The Chief Minister also expressed anguish over certain comments made by Muslim League leaders in the Assembly. “I think this victory has gone to their heads,” he said. He singled out N Shamsudheen and PK Basheer for special mention.

Earlier in the day, provoked by cries from the seats of power as he moved an adjournment motion, Shamshudeen had used a harsh word to describe their cries. He quickly withdrew it when Speaker AN Shamseer declared it “unparliamentary”.

The CM said that by using this word, Shamsudheen had betrayed his attitude towards the LDF. “In fact, he despised us like dogs. See what a victory did to a well-behaved MP like Shamsudheen,” he said. During the discussion, Basheer had used rustic jargon to ask the ruling leaders if they were ashamed. “There is no reason to be ashamed,” the CM said.