Cong accuses BJP of transferring votes to CPM in Kerala

A day after Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan alleged vote trade off between the UDF and BJP in Kerala Assembly elections, the state Congress leadership hit back at the CPM accusing it of having underhand deal with the BJP.

Opposition leader and senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala alleged that the BJP had transferred its votes to the CPM in as many as 69 constituencies. The Chief Minister came up with the allegation against the UDf to hide his own party’s clandestine deal with the BJP.

Compared to last Assembly elections the BJP votes came down by 4,35,606 and majority of these votes went to the CPM-led LDF, he added.

He said the UDF put up a strong fight in Manjeshwaram, Palakkad and prevented BJP victory in these constituencies and pushing the CPM to third place. He alleged that the CPM had transferred its votes to the BJP in Majeshwaram and Palakkad, Chennithala said the allegations of the Chief Minister were totaly baseless and didn’t even deserve a response.

On the CPM claim that it had closed the account of BJP in its lone sitting seat in Nemom in Thiruvananthpauram district, the opposition leader said.

“It was the Congress which actually closed BJP’s account by fielding a formidable candidate like K. Karunakaran’s son K. Muraleedharan.”

Meanwhile, the BJP also countered the Chief Minister’s allegations of vote trade with the UDF. “If the CPM is accusing us of trading votes, then what happened during 2019 Lok Sabha elections when there was a huge dip in their vote share? Did they sell the votes to the Congress at that time,” asked BJP state president K. Surendran. He said the BJP cannot be blamed for the weakenss of Congress.

The BJP state president alleged that the CPM had played communal card by mobilising the minorities , mainly Muslims. Barring Malappuram where the Muslim votes went to the Muslim League candidates, in other constituenties the CPM garnered their votes.

Surendran said there was minority consolidation in favour of LDF and UDF whereever the BJP was in a winning position.