KOCHI: Apolitical group Twenty20 registered a ‘duck’ on its Kerala assembly poll debut. But as feared, it virtually spoiled the victory chances of both the UDF and the LDF in a few constituencies in Ernakulam district.
In Kunnathunadu, where the fight between the two leading fronts was tight, Twenty20 candidate Sujith P Surendran bagged 42,701 votes reducing the victory margin of the LDF candidate to just 2,895. The situation was no different for UDF’s Kochi candidate Tony Chammany, who lost to LDF’s sitting MLA K J Maxy by a margin of 14,079 after Twenty20’s Shiny Antony secured 19,676 votes.
Even in the Ernakulam constituency, Twenty20 candidate Leslie Pallath polled 10,634 votes making the fight tough for both UDF’s T J Vinod and LDF’s Shaji George. Eventually, Vinod managed to retain the seat.Twenty20 put up a better show than the BJP-led NDA in six of the eight seats it contested in the district.
“We managed to win a considerable number of votes in all constituencies we contested. Apart from neutral votes, we received votes from those who have been supporting the LDF and the UDF for all these years. We will evaluate the performances of our candidates and plan the future course of action,” said Twenty20 chief coordinator Sabu M Jacob. Congress state working president K V Thomas, while acknowledging the fact that a group like Twenty20 had secured a few votes, said it did not impact the UDF.
