The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) seems to have inadvertently ceded a campaign trail advantage to the ruling front and the Opposition in four key parliamentary constituencies in the State by announcing candidates somewhat belatedly.
The party has fielded State unit chief K. Surendran in Wayanad, party veteran K.S. Radhakrishnan in Ernakulam, actor G. Krishnakumar in Kollam, and T.N. Sarasu in Alathur.
By Sunday, when the BJP declared its candidates, the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the United Democratic Front (UDF) had completed at least three rounds of campaigning in the battleground constituencies. Social and mainstream media sharply highlighted the BJP’s absence, and the void was jarringly conspicuous in the constituencies.
