Kerala bypolls: Agony for BJP, ecstasy for Congress, relief for CPI(M)

Thiruvananthapuram: The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kerala is in a jubilant mood not just over the thumping victory of party top leader Priyanka Gandhi at Wayanad, but also over the victory of party candidate Rahul Mamkootathil at Palakkad Assembly bypoll with a margin beyond expectations.

Though the ruling Left Democratic Front could resist the anti-incumbency criticisms as CPI(M)'s U R Pradeep retained the party's long time sitting Assembly seat Chelakkara, a drop in vote share from 54.41 per cent in 2021 to 41.44 percent is a cause for concern.

LDF's decision to field Congress-rebel Dr P Sarin at Palakkad could slightly improve vote share, though LDF finished in third place only this time also.

BJP, which was pinning victory hopes in Palakkad, suffered the biggest embarrassment as party candidate C Krishnakumar lost by 18,840 votes.

In 2021 'Metro man' E Sreedharan contested as BJP candidate and lost by just 3,859 votes and in 2016 firebrand woman leader Sobha Surendran lost by 17,843 votes. This time there was strong demand to field either Sobha or party state president K Surendran.

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Ignoring those, the party fielded Krishnakumar, who is a prominent leader from the district. But it even resulted in another party prominent leader from the district Sandeep Varier quitting the party openly criticising Krishnakumar and party leadership and joining the Congress.

Congress camps were only expecting a margin of around 10,000 votes at Palakkad. The expectations became dim after the polling as BJP's strongholds in the constituency recorded higher polling. Hence the victory by a margin of 18,840 is a major morale booster.

BJP could heave a sigh of relief as the party's vote share increased by around six percent in CPI(M)'s stronghold Chelakkara though it could finish at the third place only. Congress former MP Ramya Haridas, who tasted defeat in the Lok Sabha election, lost at Chelakkara also.

Both the CPI(M) and the BJP stated that the Congress won the elections with the support of parties like SDPI, the political arm of banned outfit Popular Front of India. Congress camps countered that the people strongly reacted to a host of fake allegations like black money and communal campaign unleashed by the CPM and the BJP.

"The series of baseless allegations unleashed by the CPI(M) under the leadership of a minister had led to the Congress's victory with a huge margin," opposition leader V D Satheesan said.

CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan said that the Congress won Palakkad election with the support of communal outfits like SDPI and Jamaat-e-Islami.

BJP state president K Surendran said that it was quite usual that parties retained their sitting seats in by-polls. The BJP would examine the reasons for fall in votes in Palakkad, he added.