"Unanimous conclusion": Shashi Tharoor confident of UDF sweep despite exit polls scepticism

Thiruvananthapuram (Keralam) [India], May 3 : Ahead of vote counting of assembly polls, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Sunday expressed strong confidence in a United Democratic Front (UDF) victory in Keralam, citing a rare "unanimous" consensus among political observers, even while maintaining his trademark scepticism toward exit poll data.

Speaking to reporters in Thiruvananthapuram, Tharoor addressed the recent wave of exit polls that have largely projected an edge for the UDF. While exit polls in India are often criticised for their volatility, Tharoor noted that the current predictions are unusually aligned.

"Exit polls in our country have lots of problems. I don't want to particularly rely on them, but they have all agreed with each other, which is amazing. Unanimous conclusion. All the experts, the journalists, the observers, and political analysts from various parties whom I have spoken to since the 4th of April, they're all unanimous that this is going to be a UDF win. So it would be an astonishing result if it were not that kind of win. So I think we're here to see what comes in tomorrow morning, but I'm expecting by mid-morning it will be a very clear and convincing narrative in our favour", he said.

Tharoor outlined the party's internal procedure for selecting leadership while responding to speculation over whether an MP could become the Chief Minister of Keralam.

Tharoor said the Congress follows a structured process after elections, where elected MLAs convey their views through a representative of the party president, which is then taken to the high command for a final decision.

"I know exactly what you're trying to get me to say. I'm not saying any of that. The answer is very clear. We have a standard practice in the Congress Party. After the election results, the victorious MLAs will be met by an envoy or representative of the president of the party. That person will get the sense of what the MLAs want. He or she will go back to Delhi, speak to the high command and the high command will take that into account and make a final decision. Thereafter, they are not bound by any rules or limits. They can choose anything that they want. It's up to them to decide", he said.

Notably, if the LDF (Left Democratic Front) were to face such a definitive defeat, it would indeed mark a major turning point for the "Left" in Indian politics. Keralam is currently the only state in India where the Left is in power. After losing their long-held strongholds in West Bengal (2011) and Tripura (2018), the LDF's performance in Kerala is often seen as the survival of the Left as a ruling force in India.

He further added that, "I would agree that the most important story that will come out of this from tomorrow is that it will be the first time that the LDF is not in power anywhere in the country. When we won in 2011, at that time the LDF lost both Kerala and Bengal, but they were still in power in Tripura. But this time they will not be in power anywhere in India, and that will be a major development in our country."

Traditionally, Kerala has alternated between the LDF and UDF every five years. The LDF actually broke this 40-year-old "yo-yo" tradition by winning a historic second consecutive term in 2021. If the "unanimous" win for the UDF that Tharoor mentioned comes to pass, the LDF would move to the opposition benches. For the Left, this isn't just about losing a state; it's about losing their only administrative platform to showcase their alternative governance model.

Earlier, Keralam Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan changed his social media bio on Sunday, one day ahead of the counting of votes for the recently held Assembly elections in the State. The changed bio of Vijayan now reads "Polit Bureau Member, Communist Party of India (Marxist)".

Exit poll projections have predicted that the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) is poised to win Keralam assembly polls.

Axis My India projected a comfortable majority for UDF and said it will win 78 to 90 seats in the 140-member assembly. It said the Left Democratic Front would win 49 to 62 seats and the BJP-led NDA zero to three seats.

According to People's Pulse, the ruling LDF is poised to win 55 to 60 seats, UDF 75 to 85 seats and NDA 0-3 seats.

JVC projected that UDF would win with 72 to 84 seats, LDF 52-60 seats and BJP-led NDA three to eight seats. Keralam went to the polls in a single phase on April 9, and the voter turnout was 78.27 per cent.

The LDF had won the 2021 polls and broken the trend of the state having a change of government every five years. The last polls were a setback for UDF and exit poll predictions will be music to the ears of the leaders of the Congress-led alliance. LDF had won 99 out of 140 seats in the 2021 polls with CPI-M winning 62. Pinarayi Vijayan became Chief Minister for another term.

The results of Keralam elections will be out on May 4, along with the outcome of elections in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam and Puducherry.

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