Date:12/05/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/05/12/stories/2006051212180300.htm

Kerala - Kozhikode

Spectacular sweep for LDF in Wayanad

R. Madhavan Nair

The front bags all the three seats in the UDF bastion

KOZHIKODE: The Left Democratic Front (LDF) could achieve a spectacular sweep in Wayanad district in the Assembly elections. Its victory margins in North Wayanad, Sulthan Bathery and Kalpetta are a pointer to the deep erosion of support suffered by the United Democratic Front (UDF) in general and the front leader Congress in particular. It is the first time in its electoral history that the LDF has been able to win in these usually pro-UDF constituencies.

It was clear even during the run-up to the elections that there were serious dents in UDF armour in places such as Sulthan Bathery. While the young Marxist leader P. Krishna Prasad's win did not come as a surprise in Sulthan Bathery, CPI(M)'s veteran tribal leader K.C. Kunhiraman's win in North Wayanad was considered an upset. It is the lone seat reserved for Scheduled Tribes (ST) in the State.

And the contest in Kalpetta also turned out to be a close one as expected with Sreyams Kumar fielded by the Janata Dal (S) finally emerging the winner.

Debut fight

Mr. Sreyams Kumar, making his debut in the Assembly elections, staved off a stiff challenge from the controversial Congress leader K.K. Ramachandran in Kalpetta. Adding lustre to his win is the fact that it came against Mr. Ramachandran who had won six Assembly polls in a row from Wayanad, three of them from Kalpetta itself.

Considering the victory margin of Mr. Sreyams Kumar (1841), the votes polled by the Independent candidates P.K. Ramachandran (1,770), Ramachandran (459), Surendran (2,551) and P.K. Suresh Kumar (3,189) appear to have played a decisive role in deciding the outcome. The crisis in the Wayanad farm sector and suicides by farmers in distress had infused interest in the presence of Thankamma Augustine, who contested as a representative of women widowed and orphaned by the suicide of farmers. But she polled only 403 votes.

Though victories in Assembly elections had eluded the LDF in recent times, the results of the Assembly polls announced on Thursday are almost in line with the political trend that was visible in Wayanad in the last elections to the Lok Sabha and local bodies.

The win by Mr. Kunhiraman of the CPI(M) in North Wayanad against the Indian Union Muslim League's P. Balan is the LDF's first victory in 25 years. It comes after three successful defeats suffered by the Marxist tribal leader at the hands of Congress candidates in the same constituency. The IUML had exchanged this seat, considered safe for the UDF, with Koduvally to enable the Democratic Indira Congress (Karunakaran) president K. Muraleedharan to contest.

More than anything else, what the verdict has brought into sharp focus is the havoc wrought by the failure of the Congress top management in controlling the damage generated by self-destructive intra-party feuds that resulted in a vertical split in the party and formation of the DIC(K) by loyalists of K. Karunakaran. The results have also confirmed the speculation that though the DIC(K) had restored support to the Congress, quarrels at the level of party workers remained. This was particularly in evidence in the victory of Mr. Krishna Prasad in Sulthan Bathery, which has for several years been a stronghold of the UDF, particularly because of support from the Congress.

Mr. Krishna Prasad's victory margin of 25,540 votes is undoubtedly impressive. But N.D. Appachan, the DIC(K) leader who he defeated, had won the 2001 Assembly elections by an equally impressive margin of 23,553.

Colourless show

Also of interest in the elections in Wayanad was the presence of the tribal leader C.K. Janu. But despite enjoying backing of farmers organisations like Infam and the Farmers Relief Forum, which have been campaigning for rights of Wayanad's downtrodden farmers, she was able to garner only 2,384 votes. Her colourless show in her native place would surely bring cheer to her detractors who have been trying to run her down politically.

Another leader of farmers, A.C. Varkey, leader of the Farmers Relief Forum, however, polled 11,905 votes in Sulthan Bathery. Mr. Varkey had done well in the last Lok Sabha elections polling nearly 34,000 votes.The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has 6,187 votes in North Wayanad, 5,068 in Kalpetta and 8,056 in Sulthan Bathery. There is nothing to cheer for the BJP in the election results. Votes polled in favour of its candidates in all the three seats have declined.