Before the Assembly elections, the talk in the UDF camp was about the number of seats they could recapture from the Left in Thiruvananthapuram district.
In the Nemom constituency, the front brought in the Congress’ K. Muraleedharan MP with much fanfare, announcing their intention to reclaim the seat from the BJP. However, following the election results, which witnessed a massive Left wave, the UDF lost two out of their three sitting seats in the district and ended up a distant third in Nemom, in what was billed as a tight triangular fight.
Speaking to The Hindu , District Congress Committee (DCC) president Neyyattinkara Sanal said that the party was still looking at the exact reasons for the unexpected loss. "We do accept the people's mandate. But, this was not the kind of defeat we ever expected, because no one thought the LDF would come back to power at a time when they were facing so many allegations. There is also no recent history of a front getting two consecutive terms. We will conduct a comprehensive study to look at the elements that contributed to our loss and the specific campaigns that aided their victory," said Mr. Sanal. He said that there had been no failing as far as the Congress' campaign was concerned, as the workers had diligently carried out the ground-level work.
On Nemom, he said the Congress had put up a strong fight and played "a key role in closing the BJP's account", even though Mr. Muraleedharan had ended up third. The party was able to capture all of the Congress votes, he added.
