The Puthuppally bypoll result is a combination of the massive sympathy wave in favour of United Democratic Front (UDF) candidate Chandy Oommen following the death of his father and former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and a strong anti-incumbency feeling against the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government, Bharatiya Janata Party State president K. Surendran has said.
The people of Puthuppally utilised the bypoll to hit out strongly against the corrupt Communist Party of India (Marxist) by endorsing the UDF candidate.
However, the massive mandate for Mr. Oommen is a temporary phenomenon, one that is typically seen in all bypolls in Kerala when it is conducted following the death of a candidate, especially one as popular as Oommen Chandy had been, Mr. Surendran said, addressing the media here on Friday.
Mr. Surendran said CPI(M) State secretary M.V. Govindan’s claim that it was BJP votes which made the bypoll win easier for the UDF and that the LDF had not lost ground at all in Puthuppally was the “heights of comedy”.
“The CPI(M) needs a reality check. When the UDF polled nearly double the votes as the LDF candidate, Mr. Govindan has to be so out of touch with reality to claim that it was the BJP votes that led to UDF’s win. He should be worrying about the 12,000-odd votes that his party lost than the votes BJP is supposed to have lost,” he said.
The people wanted to give a shock treatment to the Pinarayi government mired in corruption scandals, including allegations against family members of the Chief Minister, which is what has increased the immensity of the loss suffered by the LDF, Mr. Surendran said.
Even though Puthuppally was a low profile constituency for the BJP, the party will analyse its performance and do whatever rectifications necessary to gain lost ground, he said.
Mr. Surendran congratulated Mr. Oommen on his spectacular win
