Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said to media that Sabarimala factor didn't affect the Lok Sabha election results in Kerala. Vijayan also added that if Sabarimala was a big factor then BJP wouldn’t have secured the third position in Pathanamthitta.

All the 20 Parliamentary constituencies in Kerala went to polls in the third round of the seven-phased Lok Sabha election on April 23. The UDF won in 19 out of 20 Lok Sabha constituencies in Kerala. AM Arif of the LDF won in Alappuzha. 

Vijayan also said that Rahul Gandhi chose to contest in Kerala to make a presence in south India. “As a result, we lost a section of the votes that we normally get. But the truth is he came to contest here because he feared he’d lose Amethi,” the chief minister said.

LDF suffered a setback in the Lok Sabha election because people believed that Congress is capable of resisting the BJP in the country. People didn’t vote for the LDF as there was a feeling that Congress would come to power, he added.

Vijayan said that the BJP misled the public regarding faith and belief and it should be examined. He then said the Supreme Court pronounced Sabarimala verdict and no chief minister can neglect it. The state government did what a government would do in similar situations, he said.

The chief minister then said his government has public support and he won't change his style. The public knows about the arrogance, he added.

A day ago, veteran Kerala CPI(M) leader P Jayarajan said to media that LDF received a setback in this Lok Sabha election as the religious fundamentalists spread the message that Congress is capable of resisting BJP in the country. Jayarajan also stated that LDF is a secular force in the state, but the Keralities refused to believe it. This resulted in the fall of the Left wing in the state during Lok Sabha election.