UDF scrapes through in Kerala, LDF a close second (Lead)
May 13th, 2011 - 4:34 pm ICT by IANSThiruvananthapuram, May 13 (IANS) The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) just about scraped through to victory in Kerala Friday, with the Left Democratic Front (LDF) putting up a valiant fight in the battle for 140-member assembly.
The UDF won 72 seats, just one more than the 71 needed to form a government, a result that kept people and political parties on tenterhooks for more than five hours after vote count began at 8 a.m.
According to the chief electoral officer’s website, the ruling LDF headed by the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) got 68 seats, in the narrowest ever victory margin in Kerala’s political history.
When the 2009 Lok Sabha election took place, the UDF had gained leads in as many as 100 assembly segments, giving the Congress the confidence that it would sweep the assembly polls.
“This was not what we expected,” said opposition leader and former chief minister Oommen Chandy, who is again tipped to take over the reins of the state.
The Congress could win just 38 of the 82 seats they contested. This has prompted party general secretary in charge of Kerala Madhusudhan Mistry to say it was necessary to find out what went wrong.
Even Kerala Congress chief Ramesh Chennithala won only after going through a uncertain time in the opening hours of the vote count.
In 2001, the UDF had swept to power, winning 99 seats. The same feat was repeated by the LDF in 2006 — with the same number of seats.
The Left’s 2011 battle was led by CPI-M Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan, who at age 87 has emerged as one of the most charismatic Communist politiians Kerala has ever produced.
Forest Minister Binoy Viswan of the Communist Party of India (CPI), an LDF member, predicted hard times for the Congress and UDF.
“Even though the UDF has won, it remains to be seen if they can go ahead in a smooth manner. You can certainly expect fireworks on their side because a few of their allies are totally unhappy,” said Viswan.
But celebrations have begun in the UDF camp. And Chandy was taken in a procession to his church at Puthupally close to his home.
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- 4 Left legislators willing to cross over: Kerala UDF leader - Apr 23, 2012
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- Will win, but not by huge margin: Vayalar Ravi - May 13, 2011
- Chandy pats himself after one year, critics fume (One year of Oommen Chandy) - May 17, 2012
- Seat sharing first hurdle for rival fronts in Kerala - Mar 02, 2011
- Chandy to be sworn-in Kerala chief minister Wednesday (Second Lead) - May 15, 2011
- Neyattinkara, land of uprisings, set for another battle (Kerala Newsletter) - Apr 20, 2012
- Congress smells power, CPI-M fighting hard (Curtain Raiser) - Apr 11, 2011
- Oommen Chandy to be Kerala chief minister (Lead) - May 15, 2011
- Former CPI-M leader killed in Kerala - May 05, 2012
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Tags: assembly polls, binoy, chief electoral officer, chief minister, communist party of india, communist party of india marxist, congress chief, democratic front, forest minister, lok sabha election, member assembly, mistry, oommen chandy, opposition leader, ramesh chennithala, tenterhooks, v s achuthanandan, valiant fight, victory margin, vote count