On Vijayan’s home turf Congress gives CPI-M a jolt

Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 22 (SocialNews.XYZ) Even though the CPI-M won the Mattannur Municipality in Kannur district, yet again, the Congress-led UDF managed to double their strength in the 35-member local body, from seven to 14 seats.

Though the local body elections in the state took place in 2020 all across the state, the five-year term of Mattannur municipality ends on August 2022. This is the seventh straight victory for the Left.

Election to elect a new body took place on August 20, counting of votes began on Monday morning and at the end of counting, the Congress-led UDF doubled their seats from seven to 14, while the CPI-M led Left saw its tally drop from 28 seats in 2017 to 21.

Incidentally, Kannur is the strongest bastion of the CPI-M in the country in terms of active party members and not to mention stalwarts like Vijayan, Left convenor and former Ministers -- E.P. Jayarajan, K.K. Shailaja, state Minister for Local Self government M.V. Govindan and CPI-M state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan also hail from the district.

What has come as a real shocker is the ward of Shailaja which has been won by the Congress.

Incidentally, Shailaja wrote into record books after she won the Mattannur Assembly seat with the highest margin of 60,963 votes in the 140 seat Kerala Assembly.

Of the 11 Assembly constituencies in Kannur district, the CPI-M led Left won 9, while the Congress-led UDF won just two seats.

Ever since there have been massive revelations against Vijayan, his wife and daughter by Swapna Suresh -- the prime accused in the gold smuggling case -- the stock of Vijayan has seen a fall and the Congress appears to have got a boost. With the increase in the seats, the Congress has been able to make inroads at Vijayan's home turf.

Source: IANS