THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Congress has retained the Ernakulam Assembly seat in Kerala with its candidate T J Vinod narrowly defeating his nearest rival CPM backed independent candidate Manu Roy -- by 3673 votes. Vinod is Ernakulam DCC president and Kochi deputy mayor. It is a setback for the party as they were not able to attain the expected majority.

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.

The LDF expected a win following low turnout following heavy rains. The tactic of fielding Manu Roy an independent candidate of the LDF did not benefit them.

Soon after the results were announced, Vinod said that he dedicates the win to the people of Ernakulam and UDF activists. Though I expected the votes of youngsters, waterlogging led to the sharp fall in my votes, said LDF candidate Manu Roy. C G Rajagopal was the BJP candidate.

A considerable decrease was seen in the majority the UDF obtained in the last two polls. In both the elections, the UDF garnered more than 50 per cent votes.