New Delhi: It was the closest match in the Indian Political League today. The Congress-led UDF and the CPM-led LDF were neck and neck right from when counting of votes began, and at the end, the UDF just managed to edge past the ruling coalition, crossing the half-way mark by a mere two seats in Kerala.
For Congress leaders crowded around a small TV set at the Kerala Congress office in Thiruvananthapuram, it was like a 20-20 game, with a nail-biting last-ball finish. Every seat won by the UDF was cheered as the Congress-led coalition, in the end, scampered home with 72 seats in the 140-seat Assembly. The LDF got 68 and the celebrations in the Congress camp were more a collective sigh of relief.
"The fact that the election is close does not take away from the fact that we have pulled back 30 seats we did not have in the Assembly earlier,'' Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said.
But as results were announced, a Congress leader admitted this was "an embarrassing victory". Ironically, neither side is pleased with the verdict that the Kerala voter has handed out. The LDF for being ousted, the Congress that it was so close a shave. Some leaders admitted that veteran Communist leader and outgoing Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan almost swung it for the LDF.
(Read: LDF will be tough Opposition, says Achuthanandan)"Achuthanandan has played a game on the people of Kerala that he was fighting against the party also. For the first time in Kerala and the CPM, a personality has been projected instead of the party,'' Union Civil Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi said.
The Left's Sitaram Yechury said this was a near-historic election because of how close it was. A deserted CPM office in Palakkad bore testimony to the mood of the Left camp. Battling a 30-year anti-incumbency trend, the LDF fell a few seats short of the half-way mark. Achuthanandan alleged that certain caste and religious groups conspired with the UDF to ensure the Left's defeat. He will hand in his resignation to the Governor in Thiruvanthapuram on Saturday.
Senior Congress leader Oommen Chandy is the front-runner to occupy the chair he lost exactly five years ago to Achuthanandan. But the bigger onus that shall fall on him will be to manage the pressures of a coalition given the razor-thin majority with the different alliance partners likely to resort to pressure tactics to have their way. The Indian Union Muslim League and Kerala Congress (Mani) have contributed significantly to the UDF's victory.
For NDTV Updates, follow us on Twitter or join us on Facebook
Twitter
NDTV Social
Live Messenger
Gmail Buzz
Print
Please upgrade your flash player to view this content.