Comfortable win for UDF; LDF improves its tally

The Congress-led United Democratic Front  (UDF)  had  a comfortable win in Kerala as it won 12 out of the 20 Lok Sabha segments. The Left Democratic Front (LDF) improved its position from the outcome of the 2009 elections by winning 8 seats. In 2009, the LDF had secured only four seats.  

The BJP, though it had  put up a strong fight, could not open its account. It, however, bettered its percentage of votes in all the 20 segments. O Rajagopal, the BJP candidate, secured the second spot in Thiruvananthapuram where  Congress nominee, Shashi Tharoor won by a margin of 10,361 votes. The LDF candidate had  to face a humiliating defeat.  

Among the UDF partners, the Congress won eight seats, Indian Union Muslim League two and the Kerala Congress (Mani faction) won one seat. The Congress this time contested from 15 seats. Its candidate and former minister of state for home, Mullappilly Ramachandran, won the Vatakara seat in a neck-and-neck fight with the CPI(M) candidate.  Other state ministers in the UPA cabinet who won are KV Thomas, Tharoor, Kodikkunnil Suresh and KC Venugopal. PC Chacko, chairman of JPC in the 2G scam, lost the Chalakkudi constituency and sitting MP, KP Dhanapalan, too was defeated in Thrissur.  

The CPI (M) won five seats, CPI one while two seats were secured by Independent candidates supported by the LDF.  

In a tough fight, the CPI(M) wrested the Kannur constituency from sitting Congress member K Sudhakaran. The CPI(M) had a humiliating defeat in Kollam where its politbureau member MA Baby was defeated by NK Premachandran, an RSP candidate, by a margin of 37,649 votes. The RSP, which was an ally in the Left Front, had departed the front over a dispute over the Kollam seat. The CPI(M) had unilaterally announced its candidate without informing the RSP leadership.