Oomen Chandy's top men bite the dust

KOCHI: The sentiment inside the UDF camp was best described by K Muralidharan when he said, "I am thankful to my voters that this LDF tsunami did not uproot me". In a closely-fought contest against BJP state president Kummanam Rajashekharan, he retained the Vattiyoorkavu constituency with a majority of 7,622 votes.

But many senior leaders of UDF tasted defeat in the LDF wave that swept over the state including four ministers of the Oommen Chandy ministry , the speaker and the government chief whip. Excise minister K Babu who faced allegations in the bar bribery case lost to M Swaraj, the young leader of CPM.

Labour minister Shibu Baby John (RSP) lost his Chavara seat to Vijayan Pillai of the Left Front. Congress minister PK Jayalakshmi lost to R Kelu of the Left Front with a vote difference of 1,307 votes at Mananthavady, Wayanad. Agriculture minister KP Mohanan lost to Shylaja teacher (CPM) with a margin of more than 12,000 votes at Kuthuparamba, Kan nur. Speaker N Shakthan and chief whip Thomas Unniyadan are the other leaders who were defeated this time.

Among the long list of celebrities who were fielded by the three Fronts, a few who were backed by LDF won. Film actors Ganesh Kumar (Kerala Congress ­ B) and Mukesh (CPM)) won from Pathanapuram and Kollam seats. However, TV journalist Nikesh Kumar who was backed by the CPM lost from Azheekode.Film actor Jagdish (Congress) lost from Pathanapuram while film director Rajasenan (BJP) lost from Aruvikkara.