KOCHI: Two days back, former Congress leader KV Thomas gushed about LDF candidate Dr Jo Joseph’s possible victory in Thrikkakara assembly bypoll. He sounded far more confident than any CPM leader on Dr Joseph’s chances in Thrikkakara, traditionally a UDF bastion, after the former severed ties with Congress and warmed up to the ruling party which even paraded him at a campaign rally hoping that Thomas would bring in some votes to its kitty with him.
But, according to political analysts, the bypoll results on Friday proved the CPM’s strategy on Thomas was a disaster which, in fact, made Left-leaning voters to favour UDF. “CPM literally ignored the sentiments of Left-leaning voters when they roped in Thomas and it backfired,” said writer and political analyst N M Pearson.
Political observer P Sugathan said the CPM made a big political mistake by bringing Thomas to its political campaign rally. “They believed in getting some Latin Catholic votes through Thomas. But, in fact, it resulted in a loss of many votes for LDF,” he said. Critic and political commentator A Jayashankar said Thomas attending the LDF election rally was, in fact, a blessing for UDF.