KOCHI: The districts of central Kerala except Thrissur and Alapuzha largely bucked the wave in favour of the Left Democratic Front as the Congress-led United Democratic Front managed to hold on to its support base in Kottayam, Ernakulam and Idukki districts. Although the Congress suffered reverses in Ernakulam it managed to win majority of the seats in the district.
The Congress was completely wiped out in Thrissur as the LDF romped home in 12 out of the 13 seats, while the verdict in Wadakkanchery is kept in abeyance with the Congress candidate Anil Akkara holding on to a margin of three votes, the lowest majority ever imaginable. Out of the nine seats in Alapuzha, LDF gained eight with home minister Ramesh Chennithala making a face saving victory for the UDF in Harippad.
The UDF managed to put up a credible performance in Ernakulam district by winning nine out of the 14 seats. The Congress managed to wrest Angamally and Perumbavoor, two seats belonging to LDF while losing three of its sitting seats. The UDF suffered a major setback in Muvattupuzha and Kothamangalam as Joseph Vazhakkan and TU Kuruvila lost polls. In Kothamangalam, considered as a major bastion of UDF, CPM candidate Antony John scored an upset victory.
A CPM candidate is winning from Kothamangalam for the first time since 1967.
In Kottayam district, the UDF managed to win six out of the nine seats while LDF retained its sitting seat at Ettumanoor and Vaikkom. The CPM leadership has been extremely relived as the party nominee Suresh Kurup outwitted the challenge posed by the BDJS candidate G Thankappan by scoring a victory with a margin of over 8,000 votes. The biggest news from Kottayam was the victory of PC George defying both the LDF and UDF with a margin of over 27,000 votes.
The LDF retained three seats in Idukki district with the controversial CPM leader MM Mani winning Udumbanchola by a thin margin of just over 1,000 votes. The BDJS candidate scored 21,799 votes in the constituency failed to upset the victory of Mani.
The LDF candidate ES Bijimol from Peerumode scraped through with a margin less than 440 votes. The independent trade union initiative of women plantation workers in the district failed to make any impact in the polls as the candidate put up by the union failing to score even 1,000 votes.
