<p>The two main chief ministerial contenders in Kerala - V.S. Achuthanandan of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and Oommen Chandy of the Congress - Friday won with big margins in the assembly polls.<br /><br />Achuthanandan won from the Malampuzha constituency in Palakkad district, defeating Congress candidate Lathika Subhash. He won by 23,187 votes, an increased margin compared to 20,017 votes in the 2006 polls.<br /><br />Likewise, in the Puthupally seat of Kottayam district, Chandy who has not lost a single election since 1970 when he contested for the first time, got his highest ever victory margin of 32,307 votes. Chandy defeated the CPI-M candidate Suja Susan George. <br /><br />In the results from Kerala available so far, UDF hs won three and LDF in one. Power Minister and CPI-M candidate A K Balan won by a margin of over 21,000 votes in Tharur(SC) in Palakkad district.<br /><br />UDF's M V Sreyamskumar (SJD) won by 15,720 votes from Kalpetta in Wayanad district defeating CPI-M's P A Muhammed. In Manathavady, P K Jayalakshmi (Cong) won by a margin of 11,872 votes defeating her neaest rival K C Kunhiraman (CPI-M).<br /><br />The neck and neck race between the rival fronts continued with the Congress-led front leading in 74 seats and the ruling Left Front close behind with 66 seats.<br /> Vote counting is on for polls to the 140-member assembly held April 13.<br /></p>
<p>The two main chief ministerial contenders in Kerala - V.S. Achuthanandan of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and Oommen Chandy of the Congress - Friday won with big margins in the assembly polls.<br /><br />Achuthanandan won from the Malampuzha constituency in Palakkad district, defeating Congress candidate Lathika Subhash. He won by 23,187 votes, an increased margin compared to 20,017 votes in the 2006 polls.<br /><br />Likewise, in the Puthupally seat of Kottayam district, Chandy who has not lost a single election since 1970 when he contested for the first time, got his highest ever victory margin of 32,307 votes. Chandy defeated the CPI-M candidate Suja Susan George. <br /><br />In the results from Kerala available so far, UDF hs won three and LDF in one. Power Minister and CPI-M candidate A K Balan won by a margin of over 21,000 votes in Tharur(SC) in Palakkad district.<br /><br />UDF's M V Sreyamskumar (SJD) won by 15,720 votes from Kalpetta in Wayanad district defeating CPI-M's P A Muhammed. In Manathavady, P K Jayalakshmi (Cong) won by a margin of 11,872 votes defeating her neaest rival K C Kunhiraman (CPI-M).<br /><br />The neck and neck race between the rival fronts continued with the Congress-led front leading in 74 seats and the ruling Left Front close behind with 66 seats.<br /> Vote counting is on for polls to the 140-member assembly held April 13.<br /></p>