Alphons Kannanthanam fails to make it to Lok Sabha

Union Minister Alphons Kannanthanam Thursday failed in his maiden bid to enter the lower house of Parliament from Kerala, even as the BJP-led NDA made a sweep in the Lok Sabha elections. The Minister of State for Tourism was defeated by Congress-led UDF candidate Hibi Eden, who is also a sitting MLA, in Ernakulam constituency.

Eden won by a margin of over 1.6 lakh votes against his nearest rival P Rajeev of CPI(M). A bureaucrat-turned-politician, Kannanthanam could finish only in the third position with around 1.37 lakh votes, way behind Eden and Rajeev who garnered over 4.91 lakh and 3.22 lakh votes respectively.

Kannanthanam is a member of the Rajya Sabha. A 1979 batch IAS officer, he had quit his high-profile career and plunged into electoral politics by successfully contesting from Kanjirappally in Kottayam district as a left independent candidate.

Though he was offered a second chance by the Left in the next assembly polls, Kannanthanam, in a surprise move, turned down the offer, saying he wanted to shift his activities to the national politics. Later, Kannanthanam had joined the saffron party and went on to become a member of the national executive.