It was a fight unlike anything seen in this elections in the district: One man against the three major political formations. In the end, P.C. George came out victorious in style with a thumping margin of 27,821 votes.
Mr. George was ousted from both the LDF and the UDF and even dubbed as the man leaders loved to hate. He was a marked man by CPI(M) leader Pinarayi Vijayan and hated by K.M. Mani, P.J. Joseph, and even Oommen Chandy. Though he expected the Left to take him back, it was not to be so.
In fact, during the protracted campaign period, Mr. Vijayan had personally visited Poonjar twice to ensure that Mr. George was defeated.
People close to Mr. George said this was a campaign planned well in advance. Focussing on the work at the grassroots level, Mr. George’s men organised units of his organisation, (which so far has not received an official nomenclature) signing up with ever marginalised individuals, scurrying to drive a wedge into every possible cleft in the major political parties and organisations.
However, it appears that his major success was in operating a major split in the local unit of the CPI(M) and the UDF. In 2011, the LDF Independent Mohan Thomas received 44,105 votes. This time, LDF candidate P.C. Joseph could only muster just half the votes at 22,270 votes.
Mr. George, in fact, raised his vote share from 59,809 in 2011 to 63,621. The UDF share came down to 35,800.
