MALAPPURAM: Solar scam did not have any significant effect on the Vengara bypoll as UDF’s K N A Khader triumphed by securing 65,227 votes against LDF candidate P P Basheer’s 41,917 on Sunday. Khader’s 23,310 victory margin was less compared to that of his predecessor P K Kunhalikutty. In the 2011 and 2016 elections, the IUML leader had won by 38,237 and 38,057 votes respectively. The LDF managed to increase its vote share by 7,793 votes, compared to 2016. It was 24,901 in 2011.
K C Naseer of SDPI sprang a surprise and finished third with 8,648 votes, pushing BJP’s K Janachandran (5,728) to fourth. NOTA (502) came fifth while independents Hamza Karumannil and Sreenivas got 442 and 159 votes respectively.
Though the IUML camp sounded euphoric, terming the victory as a fitting reply to the anti-people policies of the state and Union governments, the rising vote share for the LDF and SDPI in the League bastion should be a cause for concern for its leadership.
“The result is quite satisfactory. We’re happy that our candidate could sail to an easy win. Further, voters in Vengara rejected the CPM and its politics. Instead of discussing development and politics, the CPM resorted to playing communal card and made use of all government machinery to defeat the UDF,” said IUML general secretary U A Latheef. He said the Solar Commission report did not make any impact on Vengara, adding it in fact helped the UDF stay united in the constituency and manage more votes.
Even in the Malappuram Lok Sabha bypoll of 2017, Kunhalikuty got 40,529 votes from Vengara Assembly segment where IUML senior leader E Ahamed had bagged 42,632 in 2014.
The CPM leaders said the LDF’s activities have started to show results in the constituency. “The IUML has lost its vote share and majority. It shows the growing acceptance of CPM in Vengara,” said CPM district general secretary P P Vasudevan. Apart from the systematic campaign and presence of senior leaders, the CPM thinks active involvement of AP faction during the campaign helped its candidate secure more votes.
Interestingly, unlike in the 2016 Assembly polls, the drain in UDF votes did not benefit the BJP at Vengara. The hype created by the BJP with the CPM as an arch enemy in the state didn’t fire in the bypoll.
When the election result came, our calculations went wrong as we did not garner the expected majority. But this served as an eye-opener for the UDF to realise the strong rapport P K Kunhalikutty had shared with the voters of Vengara.
Oommen Chandy, former Chief Minister
short takes
‘Victory despite CPM-BJP nexus’
Former KPCC president V M Sudheeran said the UDF had registered a thumping victory in Vengara despite the tacit understanding reached between the CPM and the BJP in the byelection.
udf Fell short of expectations, says chandy
Senior Congress leader and former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said the UDF did not get the majority it expected. Chandy said outcome showed P K Kunhalikutty’s image and influence in Vengara far exceeded the UDF’s wildest expectations.
A rude awakening as BJP pushed to fourth
The rise of SDPI was a rude awakening. The SDPI, which pushed the BJP to the fourth slot, garnered 8,648 votes.
