The Left Democratic Front (LDF) retained the Attingal Lok Sabha constituency, with CPI(M) candidate A. Sampath winning by a margin of 69,378 votes, nearly quadrupling his lead in the 2009 elections.
While Mr. Sampath romped home with a tally of 3,92,478 votes, his nearest rival Bindu Krishna of the Congress bagged 3,23,100 votes. Mr. Sampath had won the 2009 elections by a margin of 18,341 votes against G. Balachandran of the Congress.
In a shock to the UDF camp, and much beyond the expectations of the Left parties, all the seven Assembly segments in the constituency went to the LDF. Mr. Sampath registered the highest margin of 20,955 in the Attingal segment, followed by Nedumangad (13,514), Chirayinkeezh (11,482), Varkala (9,013) and Vamanapuram (5,696). The Kattakada and Aruvikkara Assembly segments that had gone with the UDF in the last elections, switched loyalty to the CPI(M) this time. Mr. Sampath registered a margin of 4,163 in the Aruvikkara segment and 4,983 in Kattakada.
Throughout the counting on Friday, the LDF maintained the lead, steadily widening the margin till the results were announced.
Interestingly, the LDF has pulled off the victory amidst a surge in the BJP’s vote share and a haul of 10,000 votes by the SDPI, besides 6,924 NOTA votes. BJP candidate S. Girijakumary won 90,528 votes to emerge third. The party managed to almost double its tally of 47,620 votes in the 2009 elections.
The attempt by the Congress to cash in on the political situation following the entry of the RSP into the UDF fold seems to have come to nought, especially in the Chirayinkeezh segment where the RSP has a pocket of influence.
The choice of Mahila Congress president Bindu Krishna to wrest the seat from the LDF was seen as a decisive factor that could swing votes in favour of the UDF. Both the fronts had gone all out to match each other’s firepower during the intense campaign. The campaign speech of AICC vice president Rahul Gandhi at Attingal also added to the intensity of the contest but failed to translate into votes.
