BJP increases vote share in Kerala

The BJP, which has so far failed to open an account in the Kerala Assembly, continued its losing spree in Aruvikkara assembly bypoll, but managed to increase its vote share with its candidate securing 34,145 votes.
BJP had fielded former Union Minister and its most popular leader in the state O Rajagopal who came third. K S Sabarinadhan of Congress won the seat by securing 56,448 votes followed by LDF candidate M Vijayakumar (CPI-M), who secured second spot with 46,320 votes.
The number of votes received by Rajagopal is significant when compared to the 7,694 votes received by the party candidate in the 2011 assembly elections and 14,890 in the segment during the Lok Sabha polls in 2014.

The 86-year-old leader roughed it out in the campaign trail against his competitiors-- 33-year-old K S Sabarinadhan of Congress-led UDF, a debutant and M Vijaykumar (CPI-M), former Speaker and state minister.
None of the candidates of BJP have been elected to the Lok Sabha and to the 140-member assembly since its Jan Sangh days.
But BJP's appeal has slowly been on the rise in Kerala's highly bipolar political scene which sharply swings between the Marxist-led Left Democratic Front and Congress-headed United Democratic Front.

This was evident from the increase in vote share of BJP in the recent years.
In 2009, BJP contested all but one of the 20 Lok Sabha segments in the state, and received 6.6 per cent votes.

The party increased its vote share by nearly four per cent during the Lok Sabha polls held in 2014, up from 6.4 per cent in 2009 to 10.3 per cent.
During the 2009 elections, the party contested from 19 constituencies and secured 10,11,563 votes. In 2014, the party fielded candidates in 20 constituencies and garnered 18,56,750 votes in Kerala.
Reacting to the election result, BJP state President V Muralidharan said the vote received by the candidate was significant as the saffron party had contested the polls alone unlike the two fronts.