Kerala LoP Satheesan: ‘This Congress victory is more political than 2019, no emotional issue like Sabarimala’

The Congress-led UDF has staged a spectacular show in Kerala, bagging 18 out of 20 Lok Sabha seats. Senior Congress legislator and Leader of the Opposition (LoP) V D Satheesan, who led the campaign, speaks about the outcome in Kerala. Excerpts:

* How do you evaluate the result in Kerala?

This is a huge victory for the UDF and Congress. Four of our candidates won by a margin of over 2 lakh votes, while nine others saw margins of over 1 lakh votes each. This shows that in many constituencies of Kerala, the fight against the CPI(M)-led LDF wasn’t even close. Since 1977, the only time we had such a massive victory margin was in 2019.

* What factors led to the UDF victory?

People of Kerala realised there should be a national-level platform against the BJP, and the Congress should lead it. Without the Congress, the anti-BJP platform is a big zero. People know that the CPI(M) can’t lead such a forum. Also, there was a strong anti-incumbency factor working against the Pinarayi Vijayan-led state government. We had exposed the nexus between the CPI(M) and BJP, which was evident in Thrissur and Thiruvananthapuram. Like 2019, Rahul Gandhi contesting from Wayanad helped the UDF in a big way. At the grassroots, our system worked very well.

* How was your campaign different this time?

With our campaign, we set the agenda in Kerala and made others follow it. In the past, we were often forced to follow our rivals’ agenda. This time, though, we could convey all our election narratives to the voters, to ensure support from all communities through proper social engineering. As a result, the BJP couldn’t make any inroads into Christian votes in the state, which was a fear among many.

* In 2019, the UDF won 19 out of 20 seats…

This victory is