KOTTAYAM: Kerala Congress (S) leader P.C. George made huge inroads into the vote banks of the UDF and the LDF in Poonjar to gain a massive majority of 27, 821 votes. In the 2011 elections, LDF independent candidate Mohan Thomas had bagged 44, 105 votes in a direct fight with Mr George who was in the UDF then. Mr P.C. Joseph of the LDF has now polled only 22, 270 votes pointing to Mr George’s gain.
In 2011, Mr George had polled 59, 809 votes while UDF candidate Georgekutty Augusthy secured only 35, 80 votes now. There has been a substantial addition of voters in the constituency. In 2011, the total polled votes were only 1,17, 400, whereas the total votes polled this time has increased to 1,45,124. The new voters, mostly of the UDF and the LDF, voted for Mr George, it is clear.
Only the SDPI had extended support to him, whose vote share ranges up to 4,000, especially in Erattupetta and nearby areas. In 2011, SDPI candidate V.M. Sulaiman Moulavi had bagged 3,579 votes. Mr George also got personal votes by fighting against corruption, apart from the votes he got from the NDA camp. The BDJS candidate secured only 19,000 votes. The constituency has a substantial number of Ezhava voters.
