Thiruvananthapuram | Buoyed by its decisive win in the Nilambur assembly seat, the opposition UDF in Kerala on Monday called it the first step towards returning to power after the assembly polls next year, while the ruling Left accused the Congress-led alliance of securing the victory with the support of communal votes.

The jubilant UDF leadership attributed their candidate Aryadan Shoukath's success in the forest-fringe constituency to strong teamwork and coordination among leaders and party workers.

All prominent UDF leaders, including Congress veteran and former Defence Minister A K Antony asserted that Shoukath's win was a reflection of the strong anti-incumbency wave prevailing in the state.

Antony told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram that with the UDF’s victory in Nilambur, the continuation of the Vijayan government in the state had become "merely technical".

"A change in administration has already taken place with the UDF's victory in Nilambur. The present state government is now just a caretaker government," he said.

Addressing a press conference in Kochi, Leader of Opposition in the assembly V D Satheesan, who is considered the architect of the UDF's poll strategies and campaigns, said the voters of Nilambur had cast their votes on behalf of the people of Kerala.

He said the UDF had lost the constituency by just 2,700 votes in the previous Assembly polls and had now wrested it with a margin of over 11,000 votes.

"The victory in Nilambur is the result of the hard work of Team UDF," he said, adding that the front would return to power with over 100 seats in the next Assembly polls and that the present victory was the first step.

No one could touch the UDF's political vote base in Nilambur, Satheesan said, citing the lead the front had gained in all local bodies in the constituency.

"People from all sections have voted for the UDF. Nilambur witnessed a political fight between the LDF and the UDF in the by-election," the LoP added.

Asked about the "Anvar effect" in the by-election -- referring to the strong performance of two-time MLA and independent candidate P V Anvar -- Satheesan did not give a direct reply.

While declaring his candidature, Anvar had alleged that it was Satheesan who had blocked his party, the Trinamool Congress, from joining the UDF.

In response to a reporters’ query if Shoukath’s majority could have been much larger with Anvar's inclusion in the Congress-led front, he said it was not a personal decision but a collective one made by the entire UDF leadership.

In a surprise to both the UDF and the LDF, independent candidate Anvar, now the state convenor of the Trinamool Congress, delivered a strong performance in the by-election and secured 19,760 votes.

However, KPCC chief Sunny Joseph said a person who received such a remarkable number of votes could not be ignored.

Though he also did not directly respond to questions about whether Anvar would be accepted into the UDF fold, Joseph said no door is permanently closed in politics -- and even closed doors can be opened.

While AICC General Secretary K C Venugopal described Shoukath's victory as the "people's verdict against the misrule under Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan," senior UDF leaders P K Kunhalikutty and Ramesh Chennithala said it was proof of an "anti-incumbency wave".

Reacting to the election result, CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan said the Marxist party accepts the people's verdict in Nilambur and would move forward after rectifying any mistakes.

Apparently, referring to the support extended by the Welfare Party of India to the UDF, he alleged that the UDF had garnered votes in the Nilambur by-election with the support of communal forces.

Welfare Party is a political outfit backed by Jamaat-e-Islami Hind,

"Nilambur is not a constituency where the LDF can stage a political fight and win the election. UDF's victory is with the support of communal votes," he told reporters here.

Govindan also rejected the UDF leaders' claim that the victory reflected anti-incumbency sentiments prevailing in the state.

Expressing happiness over his performance, Anvar told the media that he had expected 30,000 votes and claimed that nearly 10,000 votes had been cross-voted to Swaraj.

He urged the UDF to take up the issues faced by the people of the high ranges and include them in its election manifesto for the upcoming Assembly polls.

To a question if he was ready to join hands with the UDF, he said, "It is up to the UDF leadership to decide. I am available."

Meanwhile, BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar praised NDA candidate Mohan George for his “good show.”

"When the election results came out, the BJP’s base vote in the constituency remained stable. Although votes tend to fall in by-elections, the fact that our vote share increased in Nilambur indicates the success of the BJP’s campaign," he said.

He claimed that the BJP was the only party to increase its vote count in this by-election.

Chandrasekhar also alleged in a statement that the UDF’s victory in the Nilambur by-election belonged to Islamic extremist organisations, including Jamaat-e-Islami.

"The Muslim appeasement politics carried out by both fronts in Nilambur to gain votes will be exposed before the people in the coming days," he added.