India, Feb. 22 -- Minister of state for external affairs and former BJP Kerala president V Muraleedharan speaks to Smriti Kak Ramachandran about the upcoming assembly polls in the state. Edited excerpts:

What is the BJP's expectation in terms of seats and vote share in the upcoming elections?

The vote share in 2016 was around 15%; it went up in the Lok Sabha elections and then further up in the local body polls. We are now somewhere around 17%. Generally, in Kerala, the BJP's vote share used to be the highest in the Lok Sabha followed by the local body and then the assembly. My expectation is that we will be somewhere between 17 and 20%... the overall atmosphere in the state is favourable towards the BJP. People are disenchanted with bo...