Puthuppally bypoll: Chandy Oommen breaks his father’s record, heading to a massive victory

The by-election was necessitated following the demise of Oommen Chandy who represented the constituency in Kerala Assembly for 12 consecutive terms running over 53 years.

Kerala by-election candidates, Jaick C Thomas (L) and Chandy Oommen (R).

PUTHUPPALLY: Chandy Oommen, son of former chief minister Oommen Chandy is heading towards a massive victory in his father’s bastion as the counting at the Puthuppally assembly constituency completed eight rounds on Friday.

The by-election was necessitated following the demise of Oommen Chandy who represented the constituency in Kerala Assembly for 12 consecutive terms running over 53 years.

As counting ended in Pambady, the fifth panchayat in the constituency, Chandy Oommen has overtaken the record set by Oommen Chandy in victory margin. In 2011 Oommen Chandy defeated LDF candidate Suja Susan George by a margin of 33,255 whereas Chandy Oommen had a margin of 38,120 votes.

The votes are counted in 13 rounds and the counting has entered the 10th round.

After crossing Oommen Chandy’s record, Chandy visited the tomb of his father at Puthuppally St George Orthodox church and offered prayers. Commenting on the huge victory margin, Achu Oommen, his sister, said Puthuppally has accepted Chandy Oommen as the heir apparent of his father. She said the family was praying for a glorious victory for Chandy, which would be a befitting tribute to her father.

According to the Election Commission, currently, Chandy has got 42,348 votes and is leading by 19631 votes in round 7. CPM candidate Jaick C Thomas got 22,717 votes while the BJP candidate could garner only 4,031 votes. Chandy Oommen has secured two times the votes garnered by Jaick.

                                                        Puthuppally election history

1970 Oommen Chandy: 29,784 E M George: 22,496 Margin: 7,288	1996 Oommen Chandy: 54,147 Reji Zachariah: 43,992 Margin: 10,155
1977 Oommen Chandy: 40,376 P C Cherian: 24,466 Margin: 15,910	2001 Oommen Chandy: 58,531 Cherian Philip: 45,956 Margin: 12,575
1980 Oommen Chandy: 38,612 M R C Panicker: 24,953 Margin: 13,659	2006 Oommen Chandy: 64,910 Sindu Joy: 45,047 Margin: 19,863
1982 Oommen Chandy: 42,066 Thomas Rajan: 26,083 Margin: 15,983	2011 Oommen Chandy: 69,922 Suja Susan George: 36,667 Margin: 33,255
1987 Oommen Chandy: 49,170 V N Vasavan: 40,006 Margin: 9,164	2016 Oommen Chandy: 69,597 Jaick C Thomas: 44,505 Margin: 27,092
1991 Oommen Chandy: 56,150 V N Vasavan: 42,339 Margin: 13,811	2021 Oommen Chandy: 63,372 Jaick C Thomas: 54,328 Margin: 9,044