BJP’s Radhakrishnan forfeited his bail as he failed to secure one-sixth of the total voter turnout
BJP’s Radhakrishnan forfeited his bail as he failed to secure one-sixth of the total voter turnout
The defeat of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) at the hands of the United Democratic Front (UDF) in the Thrikkakara by-election may have helped the BJP face defeat, despite fielding a senior leader.
National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate and BJP state vice-president A.N. Radhakrishnan was also defeated and he had to forfeit the deposit too, this highlights the enormity of the defeat. Candidates who fail to secure one-sixth of the total votes cast run the risk of losing the deposit.
It was even more pitiable for Sri Radhakrishna, who declared a troubled victory on the morning of voting, thus emerging as the successor of O Rajagopal, the lone BJP MLA in the party’s history in Kerala. His meager vote share of 9.57% with 12,957 votes was lower than the 15,483 votes and 11.34% vote share in the last assembly election, which was won by a very low-profile NDA candidate S.K. Saji managed.
Sri Radhakrishnan’s best performance came in the first round when he managed to secure 1,612 votes in 21 polling booths in Edapally area. Even then it was much less than the 5,978 votes and 3,729 votes polled by the UDF and LDF candidates respectively. Their vote share slipped below 1,000 in four rounds, and it dropped to just 367 votes in the final round, when the votes cast at eight booths in Thrikkakara area were counted.
This proved to be a humiliating loss for the party, which had left no stone unturned to polarize voters in the election using the Popular Front of India rally in Alappuzha and even the arrest of the Kerala Janapaksham (Secular) leader. Former MLA PC George for hate campaign.