LDF doubles tally, but at a price

Loses in Vadakara, Kasaragod margin falls

Opposition Left Democratic Front (LDF) has doubled its tally from 2009, but the alliance has emerged all bruised from the electoral battle.

The Front has taken a massive hit in Kollam where no less a person than CPI(M) Polit Bureau member M.A. Baby is the casualty. It could not win the politically sensitive Vadakara seat despite putting up a no-holds-barred fight. Its win in the traditional CPI(M) bastion of Kasaragod is by a margin that can only be termed measly.

In Thiruvananthapuram, the defeat is more than humiliating as the LDF nominee Bennet Abraham was relegated to a distant third position. In Kozhikode, CPI(M) Central committee member A. Vijayaraghavan had raised visions of victory, but could not use his impressive campaign to garner enough votes.

Claimants for victory

The LDF’s gains is likely to have many claimants, particularly in Thrissur and Idukki, which the CPI(M) has wrested from the Congress. Granting those claims may not be as difficult as answering why and how Mr. Baby lost in Kollam and how Mr. Abraham got such a bad drubbing. Both the CPI(M) and CPI will have to do much soul-searching on these questions when they get down to analyzing the results.

The LDF strategy of fielding as many as five Independents has paid off only partially. Only two of the five, Joice George in Idukki and Innocent in Chalakudy, could make it.

While these wins do justify the move somewhat, the alliance would have to concede that it could have worked the other way if there was unity on the rival side. If it were not these two wins, the LDF tally would have been far less impressive. In Thrissur, it is a political victory, what with C.N. Jayadevan of the CPI, pipping a strong AAP candidate besides his UDF rival, to breast the tape.

Vadakara scare

One major reason for the happiness for the LDF would be the massive victory M.B. Rajesh scored over M.P. Veerendrakumar of the Socialist Janata (Democratic) in Palakkad, by a margin of 1,05,300 votes. That the CPI(M) could give a scare to Union Minister Mullappally Ramachandran in Vadakara cannot also be taken lightly, the party’s failure to take the constituency notwithstanding.

While in Idukki, the Kasturirangan row and aftermath came to LDF’s aid, the same has not happened in Pathanamthitta where former DCC president Peelipose Thomas could not make it against his UDF rival despite Anto Antony being bracketed with all those who stood for the controversial Aranmula green field airport project. In Wayanad, even the presence of a strong independent candidate could not help Sathyan Mokeri of the CPI emerge victorious.