The Hindu Business Line : Kerala: LDF romps home with two-thirds majority

At a glance LDF asserted its supremacy in 10 districts.
UDF gained upper hand in three districts.
IUML suffered its worst setback bagging only 7 seats.
DIC-K ended up in a void with only one of its 18 candidates in the fray touching the tape.

LDF WORKERS celebrate victory in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday. - S. Gopakumar

Thiruvananthapuram , May 11

The CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) has returned to power winning two-thirds majority over the ruling United Democratic Front (UDF) in the Assembly elections held in three phases between April 22 and May 2.

LDF won 98 of the 140 seats in the House, while the Congress-led UDF had to be content with 42 seats, a sharp fall from the 100 seats it secured in the last Assembly elections. Thus, it was almost a reversal of fortunes for the two fronts. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) yet again failed to find its way to the Assembly.

The elections saw several of the incumbent ministers and prominent leaders of the UDF biting the dust. Mr V.S Achuthanandan, Opposition leader and widely talked of as the next chief minister, won from Malampuzha constituency in Palakkad district with a margin of more than 20,000 votes, while the Chief Minister, Mr Oommen Chandy, romped home with almost a similar margin from his traditional Puthupally constituency in Kottayam district.

Setback for IUML

The ministers who lost the race are: Mr E.T. Mohammed Basheer (Education); Dr M.K. Muneer (Public Works); Ms K.R. Gowri (Agriculture); Mr M.V. Raghavan (Cooperation and Ports); Mr Dominic Presentation (Fisheries); Mr Babu Divakaran (Labour); and Mr. A. Sujanapal (Health).

The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), a dominant constituent of the UDF, suffered its worst setback in the history of the Assembly elections bagging just seven seats this time as against 16 it won in 2001. Apart from the ministers Dr M.K. Muneer and Mr E.T. Mohammed Basheer, the party General-Secretary and former industries minister, Mr P.K. Kunhalikutty, lost the electoral battle from Kuttipuram constituency in Malappuram district.

DIC-K setback

The Democratic Indira Congress-Karunakaran (DIC-K), which broke away from Congress and later became part of the UDF in an electoral adjustment, also ended up in a void with only one of its 18 candidates in the fray touching the tape. The party President, Mr K. Muraleedharan, tasted defeat from Koduvally constituency in Kozhikode district.

Among the notable losers are the former union minister and BJP leader, Mr O. Rajagopal at Palakkad; the former transport minister, Mr R. Balakrishna Pillai at Kottarakara; and the former water resources minister, Mr T.M. Jacob, at Piravam. Mr Pillai's son and noted film actor Mr K.B. Ganesh Kumar, who also had a stint as the transport minister in the UDF ministry, however, was elected from Pathanapuram constituency.

The LDF Convener, Mr Paloli Muhammed Kutty, won with a thumping majority from Ponnani constituency, while his counterpart in the UDF, Mr P.P. Thankachan, narrowly lost from Kunnathunad constituency. In all, the LDF asserted its supremacy in 10 districts of the State. The UDF, on the other hand, could have an upper hand in only three districts, while in Kottayam district, the two fronts drew even.

Projects in limbo

A slew of development projects in the State are awaiting decisions by the new government. The Smart City project in Kochi proposed by Dubai Internet City, which was mired in controversy mainly on the issue of land transfer, is one of them.

Another major project in the pipeline is the Vizhinjam international container trans-shipment terminal for which the tendering process is over. The project is awaiting security clearance from the Centre as two Chinese companies are part of the consortium that won the tender.

Besides, the new government will have to pay urgent attention to the struggling public sector enterprises in the State. The various measures attempted by successive governments to turn them around have failed and they have continued to be a drag on the State's finances.