Congress retains Ernakulam Assembly seat in Kerala

The Congress has retained the Ernakulam Assembly seat in Kerala with its candidate T.J. Vinod narrowly defeating his nearest rival -- CPI-M backed Independent candidate Manu Roy -- by less than 4,000 votes, poll officials said on Thursday.

Though Ernakulam has been a Congress stronghold for a while now, the margin of victory for its candidate fell to 4,000 this time from the previous 21,000.

"I dedicate this victory to my voters. The margin has to do with the heavy rains on the polling day," said Vinod.

Heavy downpour on polling day on Monday led to just 57.90 per cent turnout.IANS