KOCHI: Now eyes are on Thiruvananthapuram district as the capital can be termed as the real centre of power in the state considering its influence in government formation.
Believe it or not, it may sound queer but performance of the fronts in the capital district can be seen as a political barometer as the Front which won the maximum number of seats there, ruled the state in the past. This happened in the past five elections. In 1987, when the LDF won the elections with 77 seats, the district contributed 13 seats from a total of 14. This came from seven of the CPM, two of the CPI and one each from the RSP, Congress (S), the Lok Dal and the Janata party.
Thiruvananthapuram shifted its allegiance, though with a lesser number to the UDF, next time in 1991. Then the UDF which ruled the state under K Karunakaran got nine seats from the capital, when it swept 90 seats. Congress had eight seats while CMP's sole seat was from there. The district did the same after five years in 1996 by giving same number of seats to the LDF, which came to power with 80 seats. The seats were shared between the CPM and partners CPI, Janata Dal and Kerala Congress (J) six and one each.
It was almost a repetition of 1991 in 2001 as it contributed nine seats with Congress eight and CMP one to UDF which assumed power. Then the UDF had 99 seats and the district had another independent M A Vaheed as the winner. The same happened in 2006 to the LDF when it repeated the feat with 98 seats. Then the CPM had six, CPI two and Kerala Congress (J) one each. However, the 'winner's magic number' dipped in 2011 as UDF got only eight seats (out of a total of 72 in the state) from the district as Congress was the sole winner in the front.
Trend tracker
The UDF which ruled the state under K Karunakaran in 1991 got nine seats from the capital, when it swept 90 seats. It was almost a repetition of 1991 in 2001.
The same happened in 2006 to the LDF when it repeated the feat with 98 seats.
The only exception to this trend was in 1982 when the winner UDF had only six seats while the LDF got eight members.