PIRAVOM: Highly confident of a ‘favourable wind for the UDF in Piravom’, Defence Minister A K Antony on Tuesday said, “I have never seen such a unity within the UDF.” Speaking in Piravom after addressing voters at a couple of election campaigns, Antony opined the UDF would have won more seats in the last Assembly polls had there been such unity then. Predicting an assured win for Anoop Jacob at Pirvaom, Antony said what remains to be seen is the winning majority. “The wind here is highly favourable. For the past couple of days, there has been a strong trend towards the UDF. The Left has no unity, its commander itself is isolated within the party. The UDF is moving ahead like a single unit behind Oommen Chandy. For the first time, I am seeing such unity within the Congress party here,” he said. When pointed out that last time also he had predicted a comfortable win for the UDF in the Assembly elections, but it barely managed to scrape through, Antony said, “it’s common to have such results in bypoll. In Piravom, Anoop will have a decent majority.” Even after repeated questions, Antony didn’t reveal his assessment on the expected winning margin. When asked whether the Oommen Chandy Government should take moral responsibility in case Anoop fails, Antony said he remains optimistic about the win. Antony cited four major points, which according to him, will ensure Anoop Jacob’s poll victory. “As far as people in Piravom are concerned, they are not bothered about political, national/international issues. The good governance by the Oommen Chandy Government is what attracts them. Chandy’s attitude towards solving issues, his 20-hour work culture has influenced the voters. In all elections, the impartial voters are the ones who matter. Now they are with the Chandy Government. Second is the T M Jacob factor. You call it love or sympathy. But for the people in Piravom, T M Jacob has a special place in their minds. Jacob had been a good minister throughout his political career, be it in Karunakaran Cabinet or my Cabinet. But during his last regime, he was at his benevolent best. The rice scheme and ration cards have attracted people,” Antony pointed out.
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