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Thiruvananthapuram: The LDF has won seven seats in the by-elections held in 15 wards of local self-governments in 11 districts of the State on Thursday. The UDF won in five seats and BJP in three.
The UDF could retain control of Kasaragod district panchayat as UDF candidate Shanawaz Padur won the by-election from Uduma ward. The Front would have lost majority if it candidate had failed to win.
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Kerala Congress (Mani) has opined that the controversial decisions of the UDF Government towards the end of its term were responsible for the Front’s debacle in the Assembly elections.
Party leaders who attended the one day camp of steering committee members of the party on Wednesday added that the criticism from within the Congress over the decisions added to the problem. Their criticism of the government was even sharper than that of the Opposition.
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The number of women getting elected to Kerala Assembly remains more or less static though women contesting the elections have been going up since 2001. Only eight women will be swearing-in as members when the 14th Kerala Assembly begins its first session on June 2.
In the 13th Assembly, their number was just seven. The highest number of women was elected to the Assembly in 1996. Even then, it was only 13 members despite the high literacy and better status of women in the State.
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Nine newly elected members entering the Assembly now have assets exceeding Rs. 10 crores. As many as 61 of the 140 new members are crorepatis.
Thomas Chandy (NCP,) who was elected from Kuttanad, tops the list with assets exceeding Rs. 92.37 crores. V. K. C. Mammed Koya (CPI-M), who won the election from Beypore comes second with assets of Rs. 30.42 crores. The third richest member is K. B. Ganesh Kumar (KC-B) whose net worth is of Rs. 22.21 crores.
Out of 140 MLAs, eight (6%) MLAs are women. In 2011, there were only seven (5%) women in the Assembly.
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The number of members with criminal background will be increasing in the Kerala Assembly.
As many as 87 of the newly-elected members have criminal cases against them. The cases against 27 of them are of serious nature such as those related to murder, attempt to murder and kidnapping.
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