In a stunning electoral victory, the ruling CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) rode back to power in Kerala winning 99 of the 140 seats, bucking the over four-decade-long trend of Communists and Congress-led UDF coming to power alternatively, reported PTI.
While the opposition UDF had to settle for the remaining 41 and BJP drew a blank, reported PTI. The results dealt a huge blow to the opposition UDF, which was hoping to sail to power, and it could garner only 41 seats while the BJP had to forgo even the lone seat--Nemom-- it captured in the 2016 elections.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan won by a huge margin of 50,123 votes. His cabinet colleagues-- K K Shailaja, M M Mani, A C Moideen, KadakampallySurendran, Kadannappally Ramachandran, K Krishnankutty, T P Ramakrishnan and K Chandrasekharan were among the winners.
Health minister Shailaja, who won global acclaim for her effective intervention during the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic, trounced her opponentwith a record margin of 60,963 votes.
However, in a setback, Fisheries minister J Mercykutty Amma lost to P C Vishnunath (Congress) in Kundara.
Prominent winners from the UDF camp were Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala, former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, former minister Anoop Jacob, M K Muneer and K K Rema, the RevolutionaryMarxist Party leader backed by the front.
Among the prominent losers were Former Union minister K J Alphons, 'Metroman' E Sreedharan, BJP state president K Surendran, Kummanam Rajashekharan, Rajya Sabha MP and actor Suresh Gopi, M V Shreyams Kumar, K Muraleedharan, V T Balaram, Padmaja Venugopal, K M Shaji, and former DGP Jacob Thomas.
Sreedharan, who was fielded by BJP from Palakkad, was defeated by Youth Congress state president Shafi Parambil, for whom the victory was doubly sweet as it was a hat trick of wins.
Eighty-eight-year-old Sreedharan had maintained the lead throughout, but luck did not favour him in the end, as his dream of sailing to the state assembly did not materialise.
Here is the full list of winners in Kerala:
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