Kerala - Kottayam   

LDF makes inroads into UDF's traditional bastion

George Jacob

It is going to be days of disquiet in both fronts in Kottayam

KOTTAYAM: It was a day of unexpected big gains and startling cliff-hangers in the district. While the Left Democratic Front (LDF) made forays into the United Democratic Front (UDF) territory, chinks in the coalition's armour were evident even in victory, giving a clean hint that coming are the days of disquiet in the Left. On the other hand, the two UDF partners Kerala Congress(M) and the Congress are already in the process of finding fault with each other for the debacle in the district.

The LDF tally has more than doubled from the two it had in the 2001 elections to five this time. In addition to Vaikom and Poonjar which were with it, the LDF has taken Kottayam, Kanjirappally and Kaduthruthy. The UDF improved its performance at Puthuppally and Vazhoor and came out on top at Pala, Changanassery and Ettumanur, but with reduced margins. Stephen George of the KC(M) is the only sitting MLA who has lost the elections in the district.

Chief Minister Oommen Chandy came out victorious with the highest margin of his political life from Puthuppally in one of the star battles in these elections. He has polled 64,910 votes and registered a margin of 19,863 votes against his CPI(M) rival Sindhu Joy. The KC(M) leader K.M. Mani retained Pala for the record 11th time.

Alphons Kannamthanam, the IAS officer-turned-politician, won by a margin of 10,737 votes over his nearest rival in a four-cornered battle in which both the coalitions were under rebel threat. The Congress State general secretary Joseph Vazhackan came second and the former Kerala Congress (J) district president Georgekutty Augusthy who had contested as Independent came third. The voting pattern is expected to have its effects both in the LDF and in the UDF affecting the relations between the CPI(M) and the KC(J) on the Left side and the KC(M) and the Congress on the Right.

Kottayam came back to the LDF fold, but with a rider. The CPI(M) candidate V.N. Vasavan, for whom the contest was expected to be a cakewalk, just scraped through with a slender margin of 482 votes over his rival Ajay Tharayil of Congress. At Kaduthuruthy, Mons Joseph (KC-J) won over his rival and sitting MLA Stephen George of the KC(M).

In Poonjar, the sitting MLA P.C. George (KC-Secular) improved his tally to 7,637 (from 1,894 during the 2001 elections).

Inhe Scheduled Caste reserved constituency of Vaikom, K. Ajith (CPI), son of the former MLA M.K. Kesavan, won by a margin of 8,781 votes over his rival V.P. Sajeendran of the Congress. KC(M) chairman and Rural Development Minister C.F. Thomas held Changanassery with a margin of 9,653 (against 13,041 in 2001) while Thomas Chazhikkadan (KC-M) saw his margin coming down to 4,980 in a fierce battle against K.S. Krishnankutty Nair of the CPI(M).

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