The scent of saffron wafting from new Kerala story playing out in BJP’s God-forbidden land | Analysis

livemint.com:

The Kerala Story may not have had any takers in the southern state but the agenda wrapped in it could gradually resonate with its so-far bipolar electorate, Lok Sabha Election Results 2024 reveal.And that may not be a once-in-a-blue-moon bloom, as the top political fronts–the ruling CPM-led Left Democratic Front and the Opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front—would like to believe.If you dig deep into the poll data, A-Plus seats, where the BJP-led NDA considers the probability of its candidate emerging victorious, have mounted to 20. Of the 140 assembly segments, the NDA led in 11 seats and came second in nine LS constituencies of Thiruvananthapuram, Attingal, Alappuzha, Palakkad and Kasaragod.

These vital stats will toe BJP's first lawmaker elected in Lotus symbol from Kerala, Suresh Gopi, who won from the Thrissur constituency as the saffron party makes fresh inroads into a terrain considered forbidden for the BJP for nearly seven decades after the state was formed. The state has had only one BJP legislator so far.The erosion in the vote bank has cut across major political fronts—the ruling LDF and the Opposition United Democratic Front (UDF), two entities that have so far held sway over Kerala’s bipolar political arena's electoral pattern.In simple arithmetic, the LDF’s vote share dip of 3.03 per cent and UDF’s 2.27 per cent compared to the 2019 LS polls means the BJP’s gains have come from this erosion.Also read: Modi.3 takes oath.