Kerala has bucked the national trend of the Congress and CPI(M) suffering humiliating routs in their strongholds, alliances led by them sharing the spoils more or less equally even while suffering shock losses.
While the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) secured 12 seats, down four from 2009, the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) was able to double its 2009 tally, securing eight seats.
Good news for the UDF came from Thiruvnanthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Mavelikara, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Kochi, Ponnani, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, and Vadakara. The LDF’s wins were in Attingal, Idukki, Chalakudy, Thrissur, Alathur, Palakkad, Kannur and Kasaragod. In the UDF, Congress won eight seats, Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) two, Kerala Congress (Mani) and RSP one each. In the UDF, the CPI(M) secured seven seats (two party-supported Independents) and CPI one.
The LDF wrested Idukki, Chalakudy, Thrissur, and Kannur from the UDF.
The BJP came closest to opening its account in Parliament from Kerala this time with its nominee O. Rajagopal maintaining a steady lead over his Congress rival Shashi Tharoor till the very last round, only to lose by 15,470 votes. The LDF had a humiliating outing here with its nominee Bennet Abraham getting relegated to a distant third position, the only constituency where the Opposition alliance suffered such an ignominy in the State.
The biggest shock for the Congress was in Chalakudy where its senior leader P.C. Chacko tasted defeat at the hands of actor and LDF-backed Independent Innocent. For the CPI(M), the biggest loss was in Kollam where party Polit Bureau member M.A. Baby was trounced by RSP’s N.K. Premachandran by a whopping margin of 37,649 votes. The RSP had quit the LDF on election-eve and moved into the UDF almost immediately.
