Chandy emerges stronger with UDF’s splendid by-poll victory

Chandy led UDF to victory in Assembly polls in May last with a thin majority.

The impressive victory of UDF’s Anoop Jacob in the Assembly by-poll from Piravom has made the position of Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy unassailable in the government and the Congress party in the state.

Though Anoop belongs to UDF’s minor partner Kerala Congress(J),the by poll is seen as a crucial political battle for Chandy who led the UDF to victory in the assembly polls in May last with a thin majority of 72 seats in the 140-member assembly.

LDF,especially its lead partner CPI(M),had approached the by poll as an opportunity to deal a mortal blow to the ruling combine and shake the position of Chandy by daring its rival to take the contest as a referendum on the government’s performance.

The by-poll was necessitated by the death of Anoop’s father and Kerala Congress (J) leader T M Jacob.

Number wise,the loss of Piravom would not have brought down the UDF Government as it could still have a thin edge over the opposition in the assembly,especially since the LDF’s tally has gone down with the resignation of CPI(M) MLA R Selvaraj a couple of week’s back.

However,according to analysts here,defeat in the by poll would have shattered the moral and political authority of Chandy and even made it untenable for him to continue as Chief Minister and carry on with his ambitious development and welfare agenda.

More than the challenge from the LDF,the loss of Piravom is certain to have worked as a stimulus for dormant factional trends in the Congress in Kerala to wake up with the emergence of new power centres around leaders lying low for some time,the analysts said.