THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It was a Monday morning painted in shades of triumph at the KPCC office in Thiruvananthapuram. While the vote count in Nilambur played out on television screens, the mood at Indira Bhavan was already celebratory, as if the
Congress had sensed the result long before the final numbers came in.
There were no dramatic swings or heart-stopping lead changes to rattle nerves. The moment Aryadan Shoukath began taking the lead, there was confidence felt at the KPCC office. Every number only confirmed what the Congress workers there believed from the start, that Nilambur was coming home.
The leaders came early. Ramesh Chennithala, Adoor Prakash, K Sabarinath, K Sarathchandran and others walked in with all smiles. They settled in front of the TV with no visible tension but only anticipation that slowly turned into celebration.
“This is the semi-final before the big one. And we have made our shot count,” said Ramesh Chennithala, watching the screen with a half-smile as the leads widened. He called it a clear mandate against the LDF government and said the Pinarayi government has now lost the moral right to continue. “What we have now is only a caretaker government,” he added.
As the final lead turned into a confirmed victory, the mood inside KPCC office came alive with cheers. Sweets came out. The courtyard rang with slogans hailing Shoukath and targeting the LDF government. The Congress flags waved high in the capital sky. The cheers were not just about one win. They were about the return of momentum.
They were about reclaiming lost ground. They were about setting the stage for the assembly elections that now feel closer than ever. K Sabarinath called it a morale booster. “This gives us the energy to come together and fight as a team. After delimitation in 2011, Aryadan Mohammed won Nilambur by 5,000 votes. Since then, the seat has gone to the CPM. This time it is an 11,000-vote win. That’s no ordinary victory. That’s a message,” he said.
He also pointed to the weight of Shoukath’s opponent. “M Swaraj is not just any candidate. He is a state secretariat member. The entire state machinery and party stood behind him. If the people still voted for us, it shows the depth of anti-incumbency. Even many left-leaning voters may have stayed away or turned silent in protest.”
As firecrackers lit up the Nilambur sky and Aryadan Shoukath was lifted on shoulders amid cheering crowds; the cheers, the claps, the pride, all found its way into the hearts of party workers watching from hundreds of kilometres away in the capital. The KPCC office felt every beat of that joy.
And now, with one hand already raised in victory, the Congress workers at KPCC said they are not looking back. Their eyes are set on the assembly elections. They have tasted blood. And they are ready.