Thiruvananthapuram, May 4 : At a time when the Kerala unit of the BJP decided to sit down to discuss the rather poor performance in the just held assembly polls when it not only saw the one seat that they had in 2016 disappear, but also saw a dip in the total votes, a top BJP state leader made no bones of the dismal performance who said that strategies adopted in North India won't work in Kerala. What has hurt the party and has come as a shocker is their vote percentage which saw a fall from 15.01 per cent in the 2016 Assembly polls to a 12.47 per cent after votes were counted on Sunday for the 140-member Kerala Assembly. If there is any solace for them is they managed to come second in nine constituencies. This setback has come after an array of its biggest leaders which include Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, UP Chief Minister Yogi Aditiyanath who came to the state more than once and others who came once included Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Smriti Irani, to name a few. Former State BJP president C.K. Padmanabhan who was the party candidate against Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at Dharamadom constituency in Kannur came a distant third with over 14,000 votes. He spoke to the media on Tuesday and said this is a victory for the work of Vijayan. "The people of Kerala wished a second term for Vijayan and we all should welcome the verdict of the people," said Padmanabhan. "If anyone thinks that the strategy adopted in North India will work in Kerala, then it will not work out and all should first understand that," added Padmanabhan. He was also critical in the manner in which the present State BJP president K. Surendran who contested in two constituencies and opined that it was not needed. "Correctional steps will have to be taken, if things do not go the way the party wishes," said Padmanabhan. The state leadership which had a first round meeting to find out what had happened, after raising huge hopes that the BJP will form the new state government and it required only 35 seats in the 140 member Kerala assembly and it even had declared Metroman as the Chief Minister. At its meeting the only decision that was taken was to constitute a committee which will look into the reasons for this debacle. On Monday, Vijayan rubbed further salt into the wounds of the 'wounded' BJP leadership here when he alleged that in 90 of the 140 constituencies the BJP has lost its vote as compared to the 2016 assembly polls and added that in 10 seats this was the reason for the Congress led Opposition getting to the present tally of theirs to 41 seats. /IANS