Published Sep 08, 2023 | 9:21 AM ⚊ Updated Sep 08, 2023 | 12:31 PM
Chandy Oommen (centre) flanked by with senior Congress leaders Rajmohan Unnithan and Ramesh Chennithala during his campaign in Puthuppally. (Supplied)
UDF workers erupted in celebration on Friday, 8 September, as party candidate Chandy Oommen won 78,098 votes, 36,454 votes more than his nearest rival Jaick C Thomas of the LDF when all 13 rounds of votes of the bypoll were counted at Puthuppally Assembly constituency.
Chandy Oommen led the race from the beginning of the counting, which commenced at 8 am. NDA’s Lijin Lal finished far behind with 6,447 votes, according to the Election Commission website.
He sailed past his father Oommen Chandy’s record of 33,255 votes posted in 2011. The bypoll was necessitated by the demise of Oommen Chandy in July.
Chandy Oommen, who was confined to his residence, came out after he crossed Oommen Chandy’s record margin. He went to his father’s crypt at the St. George Orthodox Church, at Puthuppally, and offered prayers.
Chairman of the National Outreach Cell of the Indian Youth Congress, 37-year old Chandy Oommen was active in the Bharat Jodo Yatra by walking its entire stretch. He is riding on the popularity and legacy of his father, whose death on 18 July, necessitated the 5 September bypoll in Puthuppally.
The CPI(M) fielded Jaick Thomas for the third consecutive time in Puthuppally, hoping to wrest back the seat it had lost to the Congress in 1970. Thomas had in 2021 brought down Oommen Chandy’s victory margin to 9,044 from 27,092 votes in 2016.
But the sympathy wave generated by the veteran leader’s death and the strong anti-incumbency against the ruling LDF government seem to be favouring Chandy Oommen this time.
Congress workers have already started victory celebrations in the constituency.
According to the Election Commission website, Chandy Oommen has won 71,697 votes, and Thomas 38,180 after 12 rounds. BJP’s Lal was lagging behind with 5,990 votes.
Senior Congress leader and former defence minister AK Antony said Chandy Oommen’s lead reflected the verdict of the people’s court.
“This surprising lead is the stringent punishment the people’s court in Puthuppally awarded to those who brutally hunted Oommen Chandy,” he told reporters.
Responding to the surging lead, Chandy Oommen’s sister Achu Oommen said Puthuppally has given a befitting reply to those who hounded Oommen Chandy.
The result, she said, will be a tight slap in the face of those who hunted him.
In one of the first responses, CPI(M) senior leader AK Balan said if the LFD wins, it would be one of the wonders of the world.
“This is not a surprise. Oommen Chandy had even won by a margin of 33,000. If the LDF wins, it will be one of the wonders of the world. The UDF has been claiming that it will be highest margin the state has seen. Let the result be out,” Balan told reporters.
