Left nosedives,UDF stages comeback

The Congress,which contested 17 seats,won 12. The party,which did not win a single seat in 2004,recorded its biggest win since 1991,when it had won 13 seats. For UDF,the Indian Union Muslim League won the key seats of Malappuram and Ponnani,and the Kerala Congress (Mani) won from Kottayam.

For the LDF,the severest drubbing came from its strongholds of Kannur,Kozhikode,Vatakara and Kollam. The CPI(M)s affair with Madhani in Muslim-dominated Ponnani also failed to click. IUML candidate E.T. Muhammed Basheer romped home from Ponanni with a margin of 82,718 votes.

The CPI,the second largest party in the LDF,returned empty-handed from the four seats it contested. BJP,which contested all 20 seats,failed to make any tangible impact.

Prominent among the winners are diplomat-turned Congressman Shashi Tharoor who won from Thiruvananthapuram,Union Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahamed in Malappuram.