Kerala Bypolls Results 2024: In a major boost to the opposition Congress-led UDF, the grand old party retained the Palakkad Assembly seat with its candidate Rahul Mamkootathil winning by a significant margin of 18,840 votes, pushing the ruling Left bloc to the third spot.
LDF candidate Dr P Sarin, the former Digital Media Convener of KPCC who switched to the Left after the national party announced the candidacy of Youth Congress state president Mamkootathil, finished third with 37,293 votes.
Krishnakumar initially led the race. However, Mamkootathil gained a narrow lead of 1,425 votes in the seventh round of counting and then on, steadily increased his margin in the subsequent rounds.
In the 2021 Assembly polls, Congress leader Shafi Parambil who polled 54,079 votes defeated 'Metroman' E Sreedharan, the BJP candidate who received 50,220 votes. LDF candidate C P Promod had then finished third with 36,433 votes.
The present by-election was necessitated by the resignation of Congress' Shafi Parambil, who vacated the seat after being elected to the Lok Sabha from Vadakara in the general election this year.
The Palakkad bypoll votes were being counted at Victoria College, where the strong room was opened at 8:00 am.
Bypolls
Moreover, apart from the by-poll results declared for the Palakkad assembly constituency, the Election Commission of India today also announced the results for the by-poll voting held on the Chelakkara assembly seat, with Communist Party of India (Marxist) candidate U R Pradeep registering a significant win. The CPI (M) leader defeated Congress candidate Ramya Haridas with a margin of 12,201 votes.Further, in the by-polls held over the Wayanad Parliamentary Constituency, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is leading from the seat. She is presently leading against Communist Party of India candidate Sathyan Mokeri and Bhartiya Janata Party candidate Navya Hardas, with over 622338 votes (till 3:30 pm) polled in her favor.
About Chelakkara bypoll
Among the total of six candidates who have filed their nominations to contest from the Chelakkara assembly seat, Communist Party of India (Marxist) candidate U R Pradeep registered a mammoth victory from the seat. He defeated Congress candidate Ramya Haridas and Bhartiya Janata Party candidate K Balakrishnan to register his thumping victory from the seat. Significantly, while the winning candidate polled over 64827 votes, the other candidates secured 52626 (Congress candidate) votes and 33609 votes (K Balakrishnan), respectively.
It is pertinent to note that the bypoll was necessitated in Chelakkara segment, a Left bastion for years, as the then MLA and former Devaswom Minister K Radhakrishnan was elected to Lok Sabha this year. The counting of votes in the segment commenced at 8 am with postal ballots being taken up first. The strong rooms, where the EVMs were kept, were opened more than an hour before counting began.
The bypoll for the Chelakkara assembly seat was held on November 13.
