MALAPPURAM: MP Abdussamad Samadani of the IUML won the Malappuram Lok Sabha seat by a comfortable margin of 1,14,615 votes on Sunday. In the byelection necessitated by the resignation of P K Kunhalikutty to contest the assembly poll, Samadani bagged 5,38,248 votes while his closest rival and LDF candidate V P Sanu secured 4,23,633 votes. BJP’s A P Abdullakutty could bag only 68,935 votes and SDPI candidate Tasleem Rahmani managed to earn 46758 votes. Independent candidates Sayyid Sadique Ali Thangal and Yoonus Saleem polled 10,479 and 7,044 votes respectively.
Sanu, however, managed to reduce the IUML’s victory margin by 1,45,538 votes. The national SFI president earned 93,913 more votes compared to the 2019 election in which Kunhalikutty had won with a whopping margin of 2,60,153 votes. The BJP’s vote share also declined by 13,397 votes.
However, Samadani told TNIE that, going by the current trend in the state, his victory margin should be considering better than previous results. “In 2019, there was a trend favouring the UDF. So the UDF candidate won with a higher margin from the constituency. But this election, given the general trend in the state, my performance cannot be underestimated. It is a great victory for IUML and UDF,” Samadani said.
He would rise up to the expectation of the people as a parliament member, he said.
Meanwhile, Sanu said the increase in his vote share is an indication of the changing nature of the constituency. “The LDF has improved its vote share. People’s anger on being forced into byelections too is reflected in the voting pattern. But those factors proved insufficient to secure a majority. Nonetheless, the increase in votes for the LDF is an indication that youngsters have started to accept the LDF and the future appears bright for the front in the constituency,” he said.