T. J. Vinod, District Congress Committee president and Ernakulam MLA, can heave a sigh of relief.
While ensuring that the UDF performed well in the district, Mr. Vinod could also post an impressive win for himself in Ernakulam Assembly constituency, which he had been representing for the past one and a half years.
Though Mr. Vinod, who came in as a replacement for Hibi Eden in 2019, could not match the winning margin of his predecessor, he successfully improved his own personal record.
This time, Mr. Vinod posted a victory margin of 10,970 votes, which is more than double the number of votes he garnered during the 2019 by-election. The improved victory margin would come as handy for the legislator to silence his detractors within the party.
The LDF-backed independent candidate, Shaji George. bagged 34,960 votes while the BJP candidate Padmaja S. Menon failed to impress the voters and ended up a poor third with the support of 16,043 votes. Leslie Pallath, who was fielded by Twenty20, won 10,634 votes.
Ernakulam was one of the three districts in the State which stood up to the LDF wave that ensured a second term for the Pinarayi Vijayan government. Though Mr. Vinod gave up the post of the DCC president to placate a senior leader, who was denied a ticket to contest, he was instrumental in coordinating the election campaign for the UDF candidates in the district. It is to be seen whether he will hold on to the two posts in the post-poll scenario.