Piravom opted for a young minister

The people of  Piravom has made it's selection wisely. They opted for a young minister instead of an MLA in the opposition. Anoop Jacob, son of late T.M. Jacob, has won the Piravom by election by a margin of 12,070 votes. He bagged 82,756 votes, whereas his immediate opponent M.J. Jacob (CPI-M) received 70,686 votes. BJP candidate K.R. Rajagopal could collect 3241  votes.

Anoop represents Kerala Congress (Jacob) in the United Democratic Front (UDF).

A victory in Piravom was a necessity for the  UDF  government, headed by Oommen Chandy, though a defeat could not topple it . The Chief Minister dared even to declare that the by election will be a verdict on the performance of the  government over the last nine months. The UDF started campaigning by putting the right card before the people of the constituency and it paid back: a young minister.

Leaders from both fronts had left no stone unturned in a fierce campaign which lasted several weeks. CPI(M) state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan and leader of the opposition V.S. Achuthanandan lead the LDF campaign while the UDF deputed a minister for each Grama Panchayat to lead its workers. People got surprised seeing top leaders on their courtyards and ministers in morning walk on the inroads of their villages.

The campaign started on developmental issues and took turns when the CPI(M) MLA from Neyyattinkara, R. Selvaraj resigned and when V.S. Achuthanandan put some "curry leaves" into the fray. V.S said that the Congress (I) threw out Sindhu Joy, ex-leader of SFI,  like used curry leaves. (His first remark insinuated a "fallen woman" imagery, and he later clarified it as "used curry leaves."}