The UDF candidate R. Selvaraj has won the Neyyattinkara by- poll defeating his nearest rival F. Lawrance of the LDF by a huge margin of 6334 votes here on Friday.
As the counting began at 8 a.m. this morning, BJP candidate O. Rajagopal had an initial lead. However, the position soon changed in favour of the LDF candidate.
The situation changed again when the 56th table was counted with the UDF candidate establishing a lead.
In the by-election which saw Bharatiya Janata Party’s O. Rajagopal putting up a strong show, Mr. Selvaraj secured 52,528 votes against CPI(M) nominee F. Lawrence’s 46,194 votes. Equally significant as Mr. Selvaraj’s victory was Mr. Rajagopal’s strong showing. He raised his party’s tally in the constituency by over four-fold as compared to 2011 Assembly election by securing 30,507 votes. The BJP nominee had secured only 6,730 votes in 2011.
Reacting to the UDF win, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said it was endorsement of UDF rule and proof that the people of Kerala did not approve of the ‘politics of murder and violence being practiced’ by the CPI(M). Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Ramesh Chennithala said that UDF victory a strong reply to the ‘politics of murder’ of the CPI(M) and an expression of the people’s faith in the Oommen Chandy government and the UDF.
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