A day after the polls, leaders of the three political fronts have expressed their hope of registering a resounding victory in the district.
CPI(M) district secretary P. Gagarin said that the LDF was in for a historic win in the three Assembly segments in the district. The decline in the polling would benefit the Left Democratic Front (LDF) as a huge number of United Democratic Front (UDF) voters had kept away from voting owing to internal issues in the Congress, Mr. Gagarin claimed.
In Sulthan Bathery segment, nearly 7,000 voters failed to cast their votes but the number of voters in Mananthavady and Kalpetta segments were almost equal comparing with the 2016 polls, Mr. Gagarin said.
UDF convener N.D. Appachan said that the poll verdict would be a befitting reply to rumours propagated by LDF. The anti-incumbency factor against the government was reflected in the poll, Mr. Appachan said. The active participation of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in the poll campaign would benefit the UDF, Mr. Appachan said. A slight decline in the polling percentage would not affect the UDF as borne out by the fact that the front had won the three segments even when the voting percentage had fallen to 72% a few years ago, he said.
The issues related to debt-ridden farmers, the alleged negligence of the LDF government towards the health sector, increasing man-animal conflict and the stance of the government in fixing eco-sensitive zone around sanctuaries would also be reflected in the results, he said.
BJP district president Saji Sankar said the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) would reap the rewards for its hard work. The people wanted a change in the government and it would reflect in the results, he said.
According to the final tally, 74.98 % of the voters had cast their ballots in Wayanad district.
The percentage in the Kalpetta constituency was 74.34 %, in Sulthan Bathery 74.29 % and in Mananthavady 76.43 %.
In the 2016 Assembly polls, 78.01 % of voters had cast their ballots in the district. The percentage in the Kalpetta constituency was 78.48 %, in Sulthan Bathery 78.32 % and in Mananthavady 77.67%. However, the total percentage of votes declined from 78.01% to 74.98 % this time a dip of 3.03%.
