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The 2019 Indian general election was held in Kerala on 23 April 2019 to constitute the 17th Lok Sabha.[1]
Indian National Congress led United Democratic Front swept 19 out of 20 seats in the state winning more than 47% of total polled votes. Bharatiya Janata Party led National Democratic Alliance which formed government at center couldn't win any seats but gathered around 15% vote share. The ruling Left Democratic Front was decimated in the elections with just one seat, vote share dropped to 36% from 40% in 2014 general elections.
The state witnessed elections in the backdrop of Sabarimala Temple Protests, UDF’s PM candidate Rahul Gandhi contesting from state and NDA’s new alliance partner Bharath Dharma Jana Sena which is a political wing of the powerful SNDP. Even Demonetization and GST issues were discussed during election campaign though they were implemented years before the election. Both Sabarimala issue and BDJS’s partnership were expected to help NDA gain by huge margin, however final results favoured UDF due to shift of some of core voters of LDF to NDA through BDJS and more importantly presence of prime minister candidate Rahul Gandhi.
Despite no National Democratic Alliance winners from the state, it got one ministerial berth in Second Modi ministry through V. Muraleedharan a Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha.
- ^ Singh, Vijaita (1 September 2018). "General election will be held in 2019 as per schedule, says Rajnath Singh". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 4 January 2019.