Kerala on Monday witnessed a sharp political reset as the state electors voted out the last Left government in the country, bringing back the Congress to the ruling saddle after a gap of 10 years
Share
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM — Kerala on Monday witnessed a sharp political reset as the state electors voted out the last Left government in the country, bringing back the Congress to the ruling saddle after a gap of 10 years, while the BJP broke through a long-standing electoral drought by winning three seats.
The Congress-led UDF swept aside a decade of Left rule under Pinarayi Vijayan with a decisive Assembly victory, with the national party adding the third southern state to be ruled by it, in its kitty. The party is in power in Karnataka and Telangana.
While Congress' vote share stood at 28.79 per cent, that of CPI (M) was 21.77 per cent. Congress ally IUML had a voteshare of 11.01 per cent.
Apart from strong anti-incumbency against the government, the results of the April 9 polls also indicated a consolidation of support across sections of society in favour of the United Democratic Front, which had been in opposition to the Left dispensation for the past decade.
The UDF won 102 seats, while the CPI(M)-headed LDF netted 35 seats, according to Election Commission data on counting of votes for 140 constituencies.
Also read: Didi unseated: Mamata loses Bengal and Bhabanipur as BJP rewrites the script
Tamil Nadu Polls: Vijay's TVK emerges giant slayer, delivers shock defeat to Stalin, EPS
The outcome also marked the absence of the Left from governance in any Indian state for the first time in five decades.
The ire against the government was so strong that 13 ministers in the cabinet suffered defeat in the political tsunami unleashed by the UDF.
Not only the Congress, but its key allies, including the IUML, the Kerala Congress also secured massive victory in the polls, which saw the complete erasure of the LDF in some key districts.
At the same time, the LDF partners, including the CPI(M), lost many seats, while a key partner, Kerala Congress (M), was reduced to zero in a humiliating outcome in the polls.
Top contenders for the Chief Minister's post, senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala and Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan, won their seats with comfortable margins, setting the stage for the next step in discussions on the post.
Of the 21 cabinet members, only Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, P A Mohamed Riyas, K Rajan, G R Anil, K N Balagopal, P Prasad, and Saji Cherian emerged victorious.
The ministers who lost the election included Veena George, M B Rajesh, O R Kelu, R Bindhu, J Chinchurani, P Rajeev, K B Ganesh Kumar, V N Vasavan, V Sivankutty, V Abdurahiman, Kadannappally Ramachandran A K Saseendran and Roshy Augustine.
LDF convenor T P Ramakrishnan also lost his sitting seat of Perambra in Kozhikode district.
The BJP's bid to make strong inroads in Kerala dominated by UDF and LDF got a slight push with the party winning three seats-- Nemom and Kazhakoottam in Thiruvananthapuram district and Chathannoor in Kollam.
BJP candidate from Chathannoor, B B Gopakumar, won by 4,398 votes. In Nemom, party state chief Rajeev Chandrasekhar triumphed with a margin of over 3,000 votes, while former Union Minister V Muraleedharan won Kazhakoottam with a narrow margin.
Congress general secretary and Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra thanked the people of the state for their overwhelming support and vowed to work diligently towards building a better future for them.
In a post on X, Vadra said, "To all my brothers and sisters in Keralam, thank you for your faith and for your overwhelming support. The trust you have placed in us will be the UDF's guiding force as we work hard towards building a better future for each one of you."
"I sincerely hope that our gratitude to you will be evident each day of the next five years as we strive to fulfil our commitments to you with honesty and humility," she added.
Reacting to the outcome, AICC General Secretary K C Venugopal said the UDF's sweeping victory was a clear verdict against the "arrogance", corruption, and nepotism of the CPI(M)-led government headed by CM Vijayan.
Addressing a press conference, Venugopal said the outcome reflected public anger against what he termed "10 years of misrule" by the Left government.
He claimed that Vijayan's victory in his home constituency, Dharmadam, was "only technical", alleging that the CM trailed the UDF candidate in the initial rounds of counting and failed to secure a majority in his own village.
"He just escaped. He suffered a setback even in his home turf. He was the only person who did not realise the people's mood in this election," Venugopal claimed.
In a major political upset for the CPI(M), leaders who had revolted against the party just ahead of the polls and joined the UDF camp, including veteran leader G Sudhakaran, P V Kunhikrishnan and T K Govindan, breached the Left strongholds of Ambalappuzha, Payyannur and Taliparamba seats.
CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan said the LDF would examine the reasons behind its defeat and take corrective measures.
Speaking to reporters, Govindan said every aspect that led to the defeat would be analysed.
He thanked LDF workers and the people who voted for the front.
"The LDF will evaluate and study the defeat, after which required corrections will be made. We expect the support of the people for it," he said.
On defeats in traditional party strongholds, Govindan said the LDF had suffered a major setback across Kerala.
"We will carry out effective organisational work to correct the issues that led to the defeat," he said.
BJP leader Chandrasekhar told reporters that as contended by him from the beginning "this was an anti-CPI(M) election" as the people were "fed up with their corruption and alleged misappropriation of gold from Sabarimala".
Chandrasekhar said that right from the start of the election campaign, both the Congress and CPI(M) said that BJP will not get even one seat.
He also said that he knew right from the beginning that the CPI(M) will not win this time, no matter what it does.
Meanwhile, the 16th Kerala Legislative Assembly will have 11 women MLAs, one less than in the previous House. The outgoing Assembly had 12 women legislators, a majority of them from the CPI(M).