In the end, the story of the byelection in Puthuppally ended with no major surprises. The inherent anti-Left sentiment of the region and the personal charisma of the late Oommen Chandy were enough for the United Democratic Front (UDF) to notch up an impressive victory here. Cashing in on the emotional wave triggered by the death of Chandy, it struck deep into the pockets of both the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to make a clean sweep of all eight panchayats in the segment. Most notably, it could ensure lead in all but one out of the 182 booths across the segment.
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The Congress-led coalition United Democratic Front (UDF), which could readily seize on a perceived surge in anti-incumbency against the Pinarayi Vijayan government, maintained its systematic work all through. Under the supervision of Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan, the entire coalition machinery lined up behind Chandy Oommen and quietly ran a campaign focussing on the grassroots.
Personal attacks
Whenever the LDF sought to disrupt this momentum, it responded swiftly by mounting a counter-attack on the State government. The personal attacks on the family members of Mr. Oommen too seem to have backfired on the LDF.
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“The wind was in our favour right from the beginning. The people used the byelection as an avenue to record their discontent over an audacious, nepotist Chief Minister,’’ remarked K. Sudhakaran, president of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC).
Although it could retain the core votes of over 40,000, the LDF required much more than the party votes to have a shot at winning. In a region where the Christian electorate and agrarian politics held a considerable sway, it always needed to motivate the middle-of-the-road voters. The factional dispute in the Malankara Church, which worked to a considerable advantage of the coalition previously, too did not have much of an impact this time.
Stunned into silence
Notwithstanding the advancements it made in the local body elections, the shocking defeat this time has stunned the LDF camp into silence. Besides the CPI(M), the Kerala Congress (M), an LDF constituent which has a considerable hold in the rubber-growing areas here, too may find it hard to fathom.
“When the result is compared with that of the previous elections, we can see that the LDF has not lost its political base. I cannot see any lapses in the electioneering as it was not really easy to win an election against such a strong emotional backdrop,” said Jaick C. Thomas, the LDF candidate.
BJP’s plight
The result, which has relegated the BJP to a third position with a further decline in its vote share, will now send the national party in a soul-searching mode. Despite a campaign blitzkrieg coordinated by its national general secretary Radha Mohandas Agarwal, the party could not check the flow of upper caste Hindu votes to the UDF. Having failed to secure one-sixth of the vote share, it now also stands to lose its deposit here.