KANNUR: The Assembly election results in the district hardly gives room for any surprise as the victory of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) candidates in eight out of the total 10 constituencies here was more or less on expected lines. But the spectacular margins with which the LDF candidates have won the seats will force the United Democratic Front (UDF) here to face the reality of the LDF having made inroads into its vote share here.

Strongholds retained

That the LDF will retain its traditional strongholds — Payyannur, Taliparamba, Azhikode, Koothuparamba, Edakkad, Peringalam and Thalassery - had been a foregone conclusion. Few here expected any surprise in the Kannur and Irikkur constituencies, the strongholds of the UDF in the district traditionally treated as Communist heartland. And the wresting of the Peravur Assembly seat by the LDF was not a surprise given the fierce campaign that the LDF launched there.

More than the improved tally of the LDF, what has shocked the UDF was the fact that its vote share has eroded in the district. The poll outcome in the Kannur and Irikkur constituencies makes this abundantly clear.

K. Sudhakaran of the Congress has retained Kannur by defeating his rival K.P. Sahadevan of the CPI(M), but with a reduced margin. Mr. Sudhakaran won the seat with a margin of 8,613 votes as against his lead of 19,133 votes in the 2001 Assembly election. In Irikkur, where K.C. Joseph secured nearly 17,000 margin since the 1991 election, has just managed to scrape through with a margin of 1,831 votes in his fight against the CPI(M)'s James Mathew.

The LDF's enhanced margins in the constituencies in the district, which it always regarded as its bastion, also demonstrated the fact that it has intruded into the UDF's traditional support base. In Payyannur, P.K. Sreemathi of the CPI(M) has been elected by a margin of 36,122 votes against K. Surendran of the Congress. Her lead in 2001 was 22,738 votes. In Taliparamba, C.K.P. Padmanabhan of the CPI(M) trounced K. Chandran Thillankeri (Congress) by a margin of 29,538 votes, 14,251 votes more than the CPI(M) candidate's lead in 2001.

M. Prakashan of the CPI(M), who won from the Azhikode constituency in the 2005 by-election with a huge margin of 26,376 votes, a record in the constituency, has improved his margin this time by securing a lead of 29,468 votes against his rival K.K. Nanu of the Communist Marxist Party.

In Koothuparamba, where P. Jayarajan of the CPI(M) won with a record margin of 45,377 votes in 2005 by-election with the support of the Democratic Indira Congress (K), has retained the seat with a reduced margin of 38,327 votes in his contest against Sajiv Joseph of the Congress. His lead in 2001 was 18,620 votes.

High-profile campaign

Although the Thalassery constituency was in the limelight thanks to the high-profile campaign by Rajmohan Unnithan of the Congress against CPI(M)'s Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, the latter retained the seat with a margin of 10,055 votes as against his 2001 lead of 7,043 votes.

The Edakkad and Peringalam constituencies, where the UDF entertained some hopes of putting up strong resistance against the LDF, the LDF candidates' winning margins were phenomenal.

Congress (S) State president Ramachandran Kadannappally defeated his DIC(K) rival K.C. Kadambooran by a margin of 30,672 votes. The CPI(M) candidates secured a lead of 5,329 votes in 2001 and 7,284 votes in 1996. K.P. Mohanan of the Janata Dal (S) retained the Peringalam seat by a margin of 19,236 votes against his IUML rival V.K. Abdul Khader Moulavi. In 2001, Mr. Mohanan won the seat by a lead of 6978 votes. In Peravur constituency sitting MLA A.D. Musthafa failed to retain the seat against his CPI(M) rival K.K. Shylaja. Ms. Shylaja defeated Mr. Musthafa by a margin of 9,099 votes.

The BJP has failed to make a major electoral impact in the district. The BJP's vote share in percentage in each of the constituencies is as follows with its 2001 vote share in brackets.

Irikkur - 2.32 per cent (2.93), Payyannur - 3.74 (4), Taliparamba - 3.66 (3.2), Azhikode - 3.57 (3.61), Kannur - 4.66 (3.87), Edakkad - 3.48 (1.88), Thalassery - 2.56 (3), Peringalam - 8.45 (8.69), Koothuparamba - 4.23 (not contested in 2001) and Peravur - 3.6 (4.39).

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