BJP's Rajagopal scripts history, leads party's debut in Kerala

Scripting a new chapter for the Bharatiya Janata Party in Kerala, party veteran and former union minister O Rajagopal on Thursday won from Nemom constituency in Thiruvananthapuram to help the party make its debut in the state assembly.

Nemom was one of the segments where the BJP had pinned its hope the most in the present election to open its account in the assembly.

Rajagopal, who had lost by a narrow margin in previous Lok Sabha and assembly elections, wrested Nemom from sitting MLA and vibrant Communist Party of India-Marxist-Left Democratic F leader V Sivankutty defeating him by 8,671 votes

When many of his party colleagues were trailing, Rajagopal, former Union Minister in the A B Vajpayee government, maintained a clear lead since the beginning itself.

The historic victory is a sweet revenge for Rajagopal, as he had lost in the constituency in a photo finish to Sivankutty in the 2011 assembly polls.

Garnering 43,661 votes, he had come second to Sivankutty last time. He had also garnered 50,076 votes in Nemom against Congress's Shashi Tharoor who got 32,639 in the last Lok Sabha elections.

In the last civic polls, of the total 22 wards in Nemom, BJP and Left Democratic Front got nine seats each and the United Democratic Front four.