Kerala bypolls: CPM wins two seats, but loses its stronghold to Congress

For the CPI (M), the biggest victory came from the Vattiyoorkavu Assembly seat in Thiruvananthapuram, where the party fielded city mayor V K Prasanth without considering the caste equations in a constituency where the Nair community has a considerable sway. Having locked horns with the CPI(M) over the entry of women at Sabarimala and the alleged “raw deal” to upper caste segments, Hindu outfit Nair Service Society (NSS) had openly campaigned against the Left.

However, in the end, Prasanth emerged victorious, edging out Congress’s K Mohan Kumar by 14,465 votes. At the Konni Assembly seat, cracks in the Congress over the selection of the candidate benefited the CPI(M), which won the seat for the first time in 23 years. The long-time sitting Congress legislator Adoor Prakash, who got elected to the Lok Sabha, wanted his nominee to be fielded, but the party went for another candidate.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said this was a victory for secular politics. “The results show caste and community forces do not have any influence in Kerala, and secular politics have a clear victory over such forces…” he said.

However, the CPI(M) faced a rude shock at its stronghold of Aroor, where Congress’s Muslim woman face Shanimol Osman beat Manu C Pulickal by 2,079 votes. The Congress also won from the Ernakulam constituency, where heavy rains on election day brought down the polling to 57 per cent.
Meanwhile, Congress ally and UDF constituent IUML retained its seat at Manjeshwar. In 2016, BJP had lost the seat by a mere 86 votes, and this time too the saffron party emerged second, but with an increased margin of 7,923 votes.