Piravom: Counting on Wednesday, both Fronts confident

Sunday, March 18, 2012: With the fates of candidates sealed in ballot boxes, both the LDF and the UDF are confident of a victory in the prestigious by-election for the Piravom assembly constituency.
Election results will be announced on Wednesday (March 21). Both the fronts claimed that the high poll percentage would favour them. LDF candidate-M.J Jacob said that the high voter turn out is a good sign for the LDF and we are very optimistic. Meanwhile UDF candidate-Anoop Jacob said that “victory is certain”.
The bypoll was necessitated following the death of former Food and Civil supplies minister, TM Jacob, father of Anoop Jacob. With his death, the UDF strength in the 140-member assembly has gone down to 71, while in the LDF camp, the recent resignation of Neyyatinkara MLA, Selvraj (CPM), has reduced its strength to 67.
The by-election is as important as the 2011 assembly polls, the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) alliance scraped through with a wafer thin majority, which enabled Oommen Chandy to form the new government.