United Democratic Front (UDF) convener Benny Behanan wrested back the Congress party’s traditional Chalakudy Lok Sabha constituency after defeating actor-turned-politician Innocent of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) by a huge margin of 1,32,274 votes.
He polled 4,73,444 votes as against 3,41,170 votes won by Mr. Innocent. The Left candidate had won the constituency by a majority of 13,884 votes in 2014.
Chalakudy was one among the few constituencies where the CPI(M) had hoped to dent the prospects of the UDF. However, Mr. Behanan dashed all its expectations and raced ahead even in Assembly constituencies including Kodungalloor, Perumbavoor, Kunnathunad, and Kaipamangalam where Mr. Innocent had enjoyed lead in 2014.
The Left suffered miserably in Chalakudy, where it had a majority of 26,648 votes in the Assembly election in 2016. Mr. Behanan enjoyed a margin of 20,709 votes in Chalakudy.
The UDF convener also upset the calculations of his rival camp in the Kunnathunad Assembly constituency, where Twenty20 Kizhakkambalam, which governs the Kizhakkambalam grama panchayat, had openly urged the electorate to vote against him. Mr. Behanan earned a majority of 17,331 votes in Kunnathunad which had registered a record voter turnout.
The LDF failed to make an impact on Congress strongholds like Aluva, Angamaly, and Perumbavoor. In Aluva, the UDF candidate had a lead of 32,103 votes, while the corresponding figures in Angamaly and Perumbavoor were 27,800 and 22,623 respectively.
Roji M. John, Congress MLA representing Angamaly, who was among the four legislators who campaigned for Mr. Behanan during his brief absence, attributed the splendid victory to the general voter mood against the Pinarayi Vijayan-led government. “Moreover, the voters were also disenchanted with the poor performance of Mr. Innocent as MP. Besides, the government failed to resurrect Chalakudy which was hit hard by floods last year,” he said.
The consolidation of minority Christian and Muslim voters behind the UDF helped Mr. Behanan considerably. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) failed to make any major impact in the battle for Chalakudy as its candidate A.N. Radhakrishnan ended up third with 1,54,159 votes.