KOCHI: K V Bhaskaran, the independent candidate of Ernakulam Lok Sabha constituency, has obtained the second highest number of votes in the state by an independent candidate without the backing of any political party. Bhaskaran clinched 22,683 votes, which is a major vote share considering his foothold in the Kudumbi community.
Besides, other six independent candidates and small parties have also shown fair figures in the results. According to Rajesh Ramakrishnan, former state secretary of Kerala Kudumbi Federation, the candidature of K V Bhaskaran is to show our strength to the state government. “We will continue to contest in the elections until our reservation gets restored,” he added. Among the candidates contested in Ernakulam Parliament constituency, K V Bhaskaran bagged the fifth position. The people and supporters from the coastal area had earlier predicted that he could bag around 20,000 votes.
SDPI candidate Zulfickar Ali bagged 13,698 votes, Independent candidate Rajaneesh Babu got 8,246 votes and P D Chandrabhanu of SRP obtained 6,156 votes.
Other independent candidates Kishore, N J Pious, P Radhakrishnan, Anilkumar and Juno John Baby bagged 5,011, 2,344, 2,104, 1,180 and 1,080 votes, respectively. BSP candidate K C Karthikeyan bagged 2,685 votes while JD(U) candidate Densil Mendez got 2,344 votes. CPI(ML) Red Star candidate M K Krishnan Kutty got the lowest number of votes, 950.