The Kasaragod Parliament constituency that had elected the CPI(M)’s candidates since 1984 was captured by the Congress’s Rajmohan Unnithan with a margin of 40,438 votes.
Mr. Unnithan, who highlighted the issue of political violence during the campaign in the aftermath of the twin murders of Youth Congress workers Kripesh and Sharath Lal at Kallyott, polled 4,74,961 votes while his CPI(M) rival K.P. Sathishchandran secured 4,34,523. The BJP’s Ravisha Thanthri Kuntar bagged 1,76,049 votes.
Mr. Unnithan is the first Congress leader to win the seat after the 1984 election in which the Congress’s T. Rama Rai was elected. For Mr. Unnithan, a prominent face of the Congress, it was his first election victory. “In my 66 years, I have never been even a panchayat member and I owe it to the people of Kasaragod for electing me as their MP,” he said. He added that his victory was dedicated to the slain youths of Kallyott. Calling on the CPI(M) to introspect and shun violence, he said that even CPI(M) supporters were repelled by the killings. He also alleged that the CPI(M) leadership had called on party workers to indulge in massive bogus voting, realising the strong undercurrents against the party. He also said that the people of Kasaragod would feel his presence in the constituency every day in the next five years and that he would be an MP to all, whether they were Marxists or Congress or BJP supporters.
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The UDF leadership here says that the impressive victory of Mr. Unnithan was possible because of the consolidation of the minority communities in favour of the UDF.
Compared to the BJP’s tally in 2014 in the Kasaragod Lok Sabha constituency, where it had registered a significant presence, the party hardly fared well this time. It polled only 3,223 votes more than what it secured in 2014.