New Delhi: The Congress managers were confident of a sweep in Kerala and significant gains in Karnataka and Rajasthan a day after the phase 2 polling in which 89 Lok Sabha seats across 13 states went to polls on April 26. In phase 1, 102 seats across 21 states went to polls on April 19. In Kerala, where all the 20 seats went to polling on April 26, the Congress managers claimed that former party chief Rahul Gandhi will break his 2019 record of winning the Wayanad seat with a margin of over four lakh votes.
“Rahul Gandhi will win with an even bigger margin this time. His presence in 2019 had contributed to Congress and allies winning 19 seats. We are winning all the 20 seats this time,” AICC secretary in-charge of Kerala P Vishwanathan told ETV Bharat.
According to party MLA P Vishnunadh, though Kerala political fight is between the ruling LDF and opposition UDF, the voters responded to the INDIA bloc vs NDA group contest in the national politics.
“The voters here are very educated and aware. They knew they were voting for a national election in which they supported the Congress. The CPI-M has no importance at the national level. Sometime ago, the Left parties were exploring the formation of a Third Front at the national level, but the voters did not buy that argument,” Vishnunadh told ETV Bharat.
According to party insiders, both in Congress-ruled Karnataka and BJP-ruled Rajasthan the saffron party was trying to polarise the electorate, but the grand old party would get more seats than the rival. In 2019, the BJP had won 25 out of 28 seats in Karnataka while the saffron party had won all the 25 seats in Rajasthan.
“Women voters turned out in large numbers. Significant gains are coming to us because of the women’s welfare schemes. The BJP is trying to polarise the elections, but we are talking about jobs and price rise. We will get more seats than them,” said senior state leader Prakash Rathod told ETV Bharat.
“There is anger among the voters against the BJP government, which has discontinued the social welfare schemes started by the previous Congress government. Besides, there is infighting in the BJP. Our campaign was solid and we are going to win more seats than BJP,” AICC in-charge of Rajasthan SS Randhawa told ETV Bharat.
According to party insiders, the big states of Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra were proving to be tough for the BJP. “My sense after two phases of polling is that the INDIA bloc is making significant gains. The problems like lack of jobs, price rise and lack of safety for women are impacting the voters and the BJP is silent about these issues,” AICC in-charge of UP Avinash Pande told ETV Bharat.
“The setback in the first two phases has forced the BJP to bring up divisive issues like mutton, mangalsutra, Muslims and false allegations against our manifesto in the campaign,” he said.
Listing another reason, a senior AICC functionary said that the Dalit voters had become suspicious of the BJP’s claim of getting 400 plus seats to change the Constitution, which would have taken away benefits of reservation. He also said the drop in polling percentages in the first two phases as compared to 2019 indicated the voter’s disenchantment with the ruling party.
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