KOCHI: When the UDF registered a landslide victory securing 100 seats in the assembly polls of 2001 — regarded as the best showing by the Congress-led front till date — no one could foresee the electoral drubbing received by senior Congress leader P P Thankachan on his home turf in Perumbavoor. It was a major upset since the prominent ‘I’ group leader had been tipped for a key berth in a future UDF government if the coalition were to be voted to power.
Significantly the front won 99 seats and Congress rebel M A Vahid, who won from Kazhakoottam, extended his support to the front soon after the results were declared. Thankachan had been one of the longest serving MLAs to represent Perumbavoor from where he was elected to the assembly in 1982, 1987, 1991, and 1996.
Saju Paul, a CPM young Turk whose family roots were with Congress, scored an upset which ended Thankachan’s winning streak in 2001. However, riding on the back of the anti-incumbency wave against the outgoing E K Nayanar government, the UDF swept Ernakulam district winning 13 seats out of the 14 assembly segments. Perumbavoor was the lone exception which added to the electoral humiliation suffered by the Congress strongman.
The factional tussle in the state Congress between the rival factions headed by A K Antony and veteran leader K Karunakaran was a headache for the AICC leadership in the run-up to the elections. Interestingly Thankachan, a staunch Karunakaran loyalist, was a prominent ‘I’ group leader. He had served as Speaker of the ninth Kerala Assembly from July 1, 1991, to May 3, 1995.
Perumbavoor is a Jacobite stronghold and the fact that P P Thankachan belongs to this community made him virtually unassailable there. This, coupled with his seniority and experience, gave him a real advantage over political adversaries. However, his shock defeat ended Thankachan’s parliamentary dreams.
However, he remained active in politics after being appointed KPCC president and UDF convener later. For long, the political fortunes of the LDF and the UDF have fluctuated almost equally in Perumbavoor. Saju Paul had a narrow margin of 1,188 votes against Thankachan which he managed to increase to 12,461 votes in 2006. However, this came down to 3,882 in 2011. In 2016, Congress leader Eldhose Kunnappilly proved the dark horse winning the seat by a margin of 7,088 votes.