Kochi: 10 of the 15 seats allocated to women in LDF are sitting seats, while 8 of the 10 offered to women in UDF are from previously lost constituencies.
Other than the sitting seats, 2 of the remaining 5 seats in LDF pertain to places where LDF faced defeat by margin lesser than 7000 votes. On the other hand, in case of UDF, if two sitting women seats are excluded, 6 out of the remaining 8 seats are battlegrounds that UDF lost to LDF by margins above 10,000 and up to 43,000 votes in 2016.
UDF had similar strategy for its women candidates in 2016 as sell. At that time, when LDF fielded 17 women candidates, UDF chose just 9. UDF then too, lend only 2 sitting seats for women - Minister PK Jaylakshmi from Mananthavadi and Padmaja Venugopal in Thrissur, The remaining 7 candidates were fielded from constituencies lost by to LDF by margin of over 13,000 votes in 2011. Eventually, all the women ended up being defeated. UDF got its lone women legislator only after Shanimol Usman registered victory in a later bypoll.
In the Assembly elections of 2016 too, 8 of 10 seats to LDF women belonged to previously-won constituencies. And the remaining 7 seats were from places LDF lost by margin of less than 9000 votes.
This time around, sitting seats being contested by women in LDF comprise Mattanoor(43381), Koilandy(11857), Kongad(13,271), Irinjalakuda(2711), Aranmula(7646), Kayamkulam(11857), Kundara(30460), Attingal(40383), Vaikom(24584), Chadayamangalam(21928). In the remaining two constituencies of Aroor and Piravom, (The figures in brackets denote LDF victory margin during 2016 elections.)
By contrast, of the total seats allotted to women by UDF only two have a prior victory record - Thrissur(2079) and Kozhikode South(6195). All other seats pertain to LDF-victory regions with margins as follows: Parashala)18566), Kottarakkara(42632), Kollam)17611), Kayamkulam)1187), Vaikom)24584), Thrissur(69871), Tharoor)23068), Mananthavadi)1307), Vattiyoorcav)14465). Of the above, only Vattiyoorcav was flipped from UDF - a victory that came from by-elections of 2019.
