Sitting MLA and Fisheries Minister J Mercikutty Amma, who it was felt would be sunk by the deep sea fishing deal with a US-based company, would retain the Kundara constituency, Manorama News-VMR Kerala Exit Poll results announced on Friday said. The minister would hold on to her sitting seat by securing 43 per cent votes.
Congress's young and popular face, P C Vishnunath, who had given the minister a spirited fight, will be second with 33.6 per cent votes. Vanaja Vidhyadharan of BDJS will be third with 14.3% votes.
Last time, it was a BJP candidate (M S Shyam Kumar) who had fought as the NDA candidate in Kundara and had managed to improve his party's vote share from 4.68 per cent in 2011 to 13.28 per cent in 2016. It was Congress candidate Rajmohan Unnithan's votes the BJP had eaten into in 2016.
Kundara had generally alternated between the UDF and the LDF. Having won thrice from the constituency, Mercikutty Amma was too formidable a leader. In 2016, Mercikutty Amma had won by a margin of over 30,000 votes, doubling the lead gained by CPM's M A Baby in the 2011 elections.
The deep sea trawling deal with EMCC, a US-based multinational company, came in handy for the UDF to seriously scupper the minister's chances this time. It was said the decision would open Kerala's deep seas to multinationals for the first time, affecting the livelihoods of the coastal folk.
Though Kundara is not a coastal constituency like say Chavara or Kollam, the deep sea fishing deal was the biggest election issue. And to exploit the issue to the hilt, Congress fielded P C Vishnunath, one of its most articulate and popular faces.
