In one of the most significant losses for the Kerala Congress (M) as well the United Democratic Front, the Left Democratic Democratic Front has pulled off an improbable victory in Pala, a constituency held by the late KC(M) leader K.M.Mani for 54 years since its formation in 1965.
The LDF candidate and NCP leader Mani C Kappan bagged 54,137 votes to trounce his nearest rival Jose Tom Pulikkunnel, who contested as the UDF's independent candidate, by a margin of 2,943 votes. N.Hari, the National Democratic Alliance received only 18,044 votes to finish as a distant third.
While the shocking defeat has stunned the UDF camp into silence, the LDF workers have erupted into early celebrations. The party workers raised slogans and staged processions across the Assembly segment
The election victory, in which Mr.Kappan maintained lead in nine out of the 13 local bodies in the Assembly segment, trampled the predictions of a UDF win, as made by all the major poll surveys.
Earlier in the day, the LDF workers had gathered in amid an air of anxiety but as the results trickled in, they erupted in joy with the LDF making a steady progress right from the beginning.
Mr. Kappan, who had unsuccessfully contested in Pala against Mr.Mani for three times on a trot, rode on his popularity in the region and the raging factional fight within the KC(M) to emerge victorious. For the KC(M), a lot was at stake for the regional party as it never lost an election in the assembly segment since its formation in 1965.
The by-election was necessitated by the death of K.M.Mani on April 29, 2019.
