Left Democratic Front (LDF) candidate Linto Joseph emerged winner with a majority of 4,643 votes in Thiruvambady Assembly constituency on Sunday. Mr. Joseph secured 67,867 votes against UDF candidate C.P. Cheriya Mohammed who finished second with 63,224 votes.
As expected, the support of settler voters turned out to be crucial for the victory of Mr. Joseph. By fielding a young candidate from such a rural family, the Left Democratic Front (LDF) gave the toughest challenge to its UDF rival.
For Mr. Joseph, the confidence factor was his image as an active youth volunteer. His role as the president of Koodaranhi panchayat had also helped him in his own village in a very short span of time.
LDF campaigners said they could evoke a favourable response from upland voters by fielding a young candidate of their choice. They also acknowledged the ‘silent support’ of the Thamarassery diocese, which has an undisputable hold among the settler laity population.
Meanwhile, UDF leadership’s helplessness to consider a candidate of church’s choice was cited as one of the major reasons for their failure. Though the support of Jamaat-e-Islami was expected to come in favour of the UDF candidate, it did not make any considerable change in the voting pattern. Mr. Mohammed’s image among the electorate as a respected teacher also did not help him.
The victory margin of LDF’s George M. Thomas against his UDF rival V.M. Ummer last time was 3,008 votes. In the 2011 elections, it was UDF’s C. Moyinkutty who trounced Mr. Thomas for 3,883 votes. The constituency, earlier believed to be a fortress of the UDF, witnessed a change in 2006 with the entry of the CPI(M)’s Mathai Chacko.
