Poll verdict not against govt.: CM

Says he will not change his style of functioning

The Lok Sabha poll outcome could not be deemed as a verdict against the State government, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said.

Mr. Vijayan told reporters here on Saturday that the results were only a temporary setback for the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and need not have the misconception it was permanent. A section of the people, a majority of them LDF voters, who did not want Prime Minister Narendra Modi to return to power voted for the Congress as an alternative.

The candidature of Congress president Rahul Gandhi in Wayanad was also one of the reasons. Being a Lok Sabha election, the voters gave preference to the Congress and this included the LDF votes too.

The LDF could not sense certain factors that went against the front during the campaign. The Congress could not win even one seat in 13 States and got one each in nine others. Sabarimala issue did not seem to have gone against the LDF. Had it been so, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would have been the beneficiary. The BJP candidate in Pathanamthitta finished third, he said.

There was an attempt to mislead the people in the name of faith, The front would examine whether it had any impact. He turned down the Opposition demand for his resignation and clarified that he would not change his style of functioning too.

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