Kerala - Kozhikode   

LDF consolidates position in Kasaragod

R. Madhavan Nair

Wins four of the five seats in the district

KOZHIKODE: The Left Democratic Front (LDF) has consolidated its position in Kasaragod district, wresting Manjeswaram constituency, a United Democratic Front (UDF) stronghold for years. The defeat of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) strongman Cherkulam Abdulla in Manjeswaram at the hands of Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) candidate C.H. Kunhambu is a highlight of the results of Assembly polls announced on Thursday. Also striking is the fact that victory margins of LDF candidates in its traditional strongholds of Uduma, Thrikkaripur and Hosdurg show a substantial increase.

Dissidence

The dissidence that has been dogging Mr. Abdulla is believed to have helped the LDF in Manjeswaram.

The former Minister was pushed to the third spot in a three-cornered contest at Manjeswaram, which Mr. Kunhambu won by 4,829 votes. And Mr. Kunhambu's nearest rival was not Mr. Abdulla, who had won four elections in a row from Manjeswaram, but M. Narayana Bhat of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who finished second.

The questions raised before the polls held on May 3 were: would LDF-UDF equations in Kasaragod district which has remained 3-2 in favour of the LDF for several years change this year?; would Cherkulam Abdulla be successful in his attempt to win a fifth time in a row from Manjeswaram?; and would the BJP be able to win in a seat in these elections?.

Also of interest was the presence in the electoral race of the IUML's popular leader C.T. Ahammed Ali, who had won six elections from Kasaragod constituencies in a row.

The LDF camp has reasons to be happy with the election results announced on Thursday since, because of its victory in Manjeswaram, it now has control over four of the five Assembly constituencies in Kasaragod district.

Mr. Abdulla's defeat is believed to have been due, to a considerable degree, to the activities by party rebels and the strong campaign against him by the People's Democratic Party, which held him and the UDF responsible for the continuing internment of Abdul Nasir Maudany in a Coimbatore jail.

Following Mr. Abdulla's defeat, the UDF's influence is now confined to Kasaragod constituency where Mr. Ali has been able to survive the pro-LDF trend in which many UDF candidates perished in other places in the State and carve out a 10,342-vote margin. Mr. Ali defeated his nearest rival and BJP candidate, V. Ravindran. INL State treasurer N.A. Nellikunnu, contesting as LDF candidate, finished third.

In the last Assembly polls, Mr. Ali's victory margin was 17,995.

BJP's hope unfulfilled

The BJP's hope of posting its maiden win in Assembly elections from Kasaragod remained unfulfilled in these elections also, but it can have the satisfaction of finishing second in Kasaragod and Manjeswaram as it had done in the Assembly polls in 2001. Besides, winning in Manjeswaram, the LDF has been able to substantially increase its lead in Hosdurg, where the winner is CPI leader, Pallipram Balan, Thrikkarippur, where the CPI(M) candidate, K. Kunhiraman, defeated the Congress nominee, Vamana Kumar, and in Uduma, where K.V. Kunhiraman (CPI-M) got the better of District Congress Committee president P. Gangadharan Nair.

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