From 0 to 13: Congress storms communist citadel in Kerala

Thiruvananthapuram: Beating the most optimistic predictions in favour of the opposition United Democratic Front (UDF), the Lok Sabha poll result gave as many as 16 seats out of 20 in Kerala to the UDF, while the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) had to be content with a mere four seats.

The result almost totally reversed the political equation in the 2004 Lok Sabha polls when the LDF had won 18 and the UDF two seats, with the Congress drawing a total blank in the state.

Yesterday's result left the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Kerala Congress (J) without any seats.

The Congress, which had no seats in 2004, picked up 13, and its coalition members Indian Union Muslim League and Kerala Congress (M) picked up two seats and one seat respectively. All the four seats won by the LDF went to the Communist Party of India Marxist (CPM).

The fours seats that the LDF won were Kasaragod, Alathur, Palakkad and Attingal. The setback in Kerala had extra relevance for the Left at the national level, considering that the Left was also humbled in West Bengal, the other state in India where the CPM has always protected its turf.

While most of the seats were decided in Kerala with comfortable margins, there were strong contests in seats like Ernakulam, Kozhikode and Alathur.

M.I. Shanawaz, the Congress candidate in Wayanad who had lost all electoral contests in previous years, ended up winner with over 1,00,000 votes, while the lowest margin of victory was for Congressman M. K. Raghavan in Kozhikode, who won by 986 votes.

The counting of votes in the state was completed by mid-day, and the three hotly contested seats were Ernakulam, Alathur, and Kozhikode.

In Ernakulam, senior Congressman K.V. Thomas trailed his young CPM opponent Sindhu Joy for most of the course, before emerging winner by over 10,000 votes. In Alathur, CPM's youthful candidate P.K. Biju defeated Congressman N.K. Sudheer, and in Kozhikode the result was unpredictable till the very end, before Congressman M.K. Raghavan emerged winner.

AP

Headed to Delhi

Congress candidate Shashi Tharoor (centre) celebrates with supporters his victory in Thiruvananthapuram.