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Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala's ruling United Democratic Front (UDF) Wednesday won the
Piravom by-election with Anup Jacob defeating his Communist Party
of India-Marxist (CPI-M) rival by more than 12,000 votes.
Anup Jacob, 34, son of former minister T.M. Jacob, won over his
father's old rival M.J. Jacob by 12,070 votes.
He said after the results became clear that he owed the win to his
later father, whose death necessitated the by-election. He was the
food and civil supplies minister and lone legislator of his Kerala
Congress-Jacob, an ally of the Congress-led UDF.
Polling in the Piravom constituency took place on March 17 when a
record 85.6 percent of the electorate voted.
Interestingly, T.M. Jacob had won the 2011 April assembly polls
with a miniscule margin of just 157 votes.
"I knew my son would win with a margin of more than 10,000 votes
and I am so happy. My only wish now is that my son should become a
very responsible politician," said Annie Jacob, Anup Jacob's
mother.
It was also sweet victory for Chief Minister Oommen Chandy who had
declared before the polls that the verdict would be like a
referendum on the performance of his nine-month-old government.
In the 2011 assembly polls, the Congress-led alliance had scraped
through with a wafer thin majority. In the 140-member Kerala
assembly, 71 seats are currently held by the UDF and 67 by the
opposition Left Democratic Front (LDF).
With this victory the UDF tally goes up to 72. The LDF is also one
legislator less with the resignation of CPI-M's K. Selvaraj.
A triumphant Excise Minister K. Babu, who had led the Piravom
campaign, told reporters that the "UDF worked in unison".
Anup Jacob, who would be sworn in as a member of the legislature
Thursday, would be a minister like his father, Babu said.
CPI-M leader A. Anandan said: "This seat was held by the UDF. Why
should there be so much excitement. Moreover, the government used
its powers to see that they win the by-election."
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