A mind-boggling 4.31-lakh vote victory for Rahul Gandhi in Wayanad has given the UDF the highest victory margin in the Malabar region, apart from the largest number of votes polled in the State.
From Kasaragod to Alathur, all the nine constituencies in the region stood firmly behind the UDF — seven for the Congress and two for the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML). The most exciting victory in the State this time — of the greenhorn Ramya Haridas with a 1.58-lakh vote margin at Alathur — is also from the region.
But for Palakkad and Kasaragod, Malabar gave huge majorities to the UDF candidates. Most exit polls had discounted UDF fortunes in Kasaragod (which is part of the CPI(M) heartland in Malabar) and Palakkad (where the CPI(M)'s sitting MP M.B. Rajesh had built up reputation for being a good legislator.)
But Rajmohan Unnithan and Mr. Sreekantan could swim along with the UDF wave, though their margins were not as impressive as others.
That Mr. Gandhi would secure an impressive victory was a foregone conclusion. Senior Congress and IUML leaders had earlier expressed the hope that his margin would be between 2 lakh and 2.5 lakh. But they are all now mesmerised by the 4.31-lakh margin Mr. Gandhi has won. UDF leaders concede gleefully that the untiring grassroots-level work by the IUML workers and some of the tiny Muslim parties had a big role in Mr. Gandhi's spectacular win.
Mr. Gandhi's triumph is even more outstanding considering the fact that he had campaigned in the constituency just for a day. He is among the big-ticket winners in the country and is not very far behind BJP president Amit Shah, who has mopped up a margin of over five lakh votes.
Mr. Gandhi has lost his sitting seat of Amethi to Smriti Irani and hence he will now be forced to keep Wayanad. Earlier, it was believed that Mr. Gandhi, after winning Wayanad,would opt to retain Amethi and leave Wayanad for Priyanka Gandhi to contest in the byelection.
P.K. Kunhalikutty’s victory margin of 2.60 lakh in Malappuram is the second largest in the State, after Mr. Gandhi. If Mr. Gandhi is reckoned as an `outsider,' Mr. Kunhalikutty's is the largest victory margin in Kerala of a Malayali candidate.
E.T. Mohammed Basheer's victory margin of 1.93 lakh in Ponnani is spectacular when viewed against the background that at one time it had seemed that his contest against P.V. Anvar was a close one.
In Kozhikode, Vadakara and Kannur, the Congress had run a strong campaign. and their candidates were strong too. In Vadakara, fielding of K. Muraleedharan was a very tactical move. In Kannur, Kasaragod and Vadakara, the Congress campaign highlighting the LDF's `politics of violence' made an impact. Of course, the general UDF wave and the Rahul factor were major contributors to their victory.
