CHENGANNUR: In all, 17 candidates contested in the Chengannur bypoll held on May 28. However, the results on Thursday showed it was the 18th button, that for the NOTA option, in the electronic voting machine (EVM) which garnered more votes than small parties and most independent candidates.
As many as 723 people pressed the ‘none of the above’ (NOTA) button. The results also showed of the total votes polled, 2,393 votes did not favour any of the candidates of the three major parties.
Swami Sukhaksh Saraswathy, an independent candidate, got 800 votes, while all the other lesser-known candidates secured below 400 votes. AAP candidate Rajeev Pallath secured 368 votes while RLD candidate Jiji Punthala bagged 248 votes. SUCI candidate Madhu Chengannur secured 124 votes. The namesake candidate of BJP’s Sreedharan Pillai garnered 121 votes. As many as eight votes were rendered invalid.
Though the Chengannur Assembly constituency comprises more than 700 postal ballots, only 40 such ballots were received owing to the strike of the union in Postal Service.All the 40 postal ballots received were in favour of the LDF’s Saji Cheriyan.