KOCHI: In anticipation of a huge victory and the comeback to power, the Ernakulam District Congress Committee office was unusually crowded on Monday morning. As the counting began, party workers from across the district gathered at the office to follow the counting of votes. There were cheers and celebrations.
DCC president Mohammed Shiyas was joined by MP Hibi Eden, Mayor V K Minimol, and T J Vinod. The candidates were tense. But the clear lead for the UDF from the beginning of counting gave them hope, confidence and relief that a political front that has not been in power for a decade was showing signs of a return.
The leaders and workers assembled there were jubilant as the political front that secured a decisive victory in the local body elections, was continuing the momentum, as was evident from the trends that were trickling in through the TV screen.
“We are sure about the victory in all 14 seats. This time, the UDF will come to power. And Ernakulam will stand tall, contributing 14 MLAs,” said a party worker, as she was watching the news.
The moment the UDF reached 100 seats, there was a huge roar as the celebration began, and the leaders shared sweets. For them, 100 was not just a number but the promise their leader made: “UDF will come to power with 100+ seats.”
Congress workers in Ernakulam had always believed and followed V D Satheesan, their leader, and he had kept his promise.
UDF’s Abdul Rasheed’s lead in the Dharmadam constituency over Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, which came as a surprise, made them even happier.
“UDF is walking towards a historic victory in the state. In Ernakulam, we have reached the magic number 14 out of 14. This result is not just the reflection of anti-incumbency. The voters are telling the CM ‘kadakku purath’, said Hibi Eden, MP, as he expressed his happiness over the clear majority the UDF had in the early rounds of counting.
Soon, former minister K Babu, Dominic Presentation, N Venugopal and other leaders also joined the celebration. Hundreds of party workers and youngsters were not just watching the news but were witnessing their party and front coming back to power after a long gap of 10 years.
Even before the results were declared, the workers began celebrations with crackers, sweets and colours.
