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Congress
routs Communists in Kerala; secures two-thirds majority
Thiruvananthapuram,
May 13: Riding a popular wave, Congress-led UDF Opposition swept
to power in Kerala winning two-thirds of the 140 Assembly seats.
Congress and
its allies won 99 seats while the ruling LDF secured 40.
BJP, which tried
its best to make a maiden entry into the Assembly, came a cropper
with all its candidates losing.
Notable among
those who fell by the wayside are four incumbent ministers, the
speaker, the deputy speaker and the government chief whip.
Significantly,
the UDF landslide win came against the backdrop of severe factionalism
in Congress, the coalition's major partner, after senior leader
K Karunakaran raised a banner of revolt over sharing of seats.
Reacting to
the UDF win, Karunakaran said the victory reflected the people's
anger over the "misrule" of LDF government.
"All the
peace-loving people of Kerala are extremely happy and I do not have
the words to express my happiness." (PTI)
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