Mamkootathil shatters poll records in Palakkad

The UDF candidate wins by 18,840 votes in the Palakkad Assembly byelection, beating the record set by Shafi Parambil, of 17,483 votes, in the 2016

United Democratic Front (UDF) candidate Rahul Mamkootathil pulled off an electrifying victory by setting a record margin of 18,840 votes in the Palakkad Assembly byelection, the results of which were announced on Saturday.

The byelection, held on November 20 after UDF’s Shafi Parambil vacated the seat following his election to the Lok Sabha from Vadakara in April this year, had become the focal point of Kerala politics as Left Democratic Front (LDF)’s P. Sarin and the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) C. Krishnakumar battled it out in a high-stakes triangular contest with Mr. Mamkootathil.

Soon after the counting of votes began at Government Victoria College here at 8 a.m., the trends began to crystallise in favour of the UDF. In spite of a slender lead attained by the BJP in the early rounds of counting, the UDF camps began celebrating, confident that the later rounds would favour them.

In the 7th round

Mr. Mamkootathil took a decisive lead over Mr. Krishnakumar in the seventh round of the counting, and gained momentum as the votes from Pirayiri, Mathur and Kannadi panchayats were counted.

As the counting closed around 1 p.m., Mr. Mamkootathil secured 58,389 votes, which was 42.27 % of the 1.38 lakh votes polled in Palakkad. When Mr. Krishnakumar garnered 39,549 (28.63%) votes, Dr. Sarin polled 37,293 (27%) votes, bringing an end to tall claims their fronts had made in the run-up to the byelection.

Mr. Mamkootathil made history by surpassing his mentor Shafi Parambil’s record margin of 17,483 votes, set in 2016. Mr. Parambil had achieved this margin against LDF’s N.N. Krishnadas and BJP’s Sobha Surendran.

In the 2021 Assembly election, the UDF secured 54,079 votes, while BJP’s E. Sreedharan got 50,220 votes, resulting in a victory margin of 3,859 votes for Mr. Parambil. This was considered a major triumph, considering Mr. Sreedharan’s high profile as ‘Metroman’ and his significant vote share, the highest ever for a BJP candidate in Palakkad.

LDF vote share

The LDF’s vote share has seen a slight increase, from 25.64% in 2021 to 27% in the current election. Dr. Sarin claimed he could secure nearly 1,000 votes more than the LDF’s tally in the 2021 elections, despite contesting as an Independent candidate with a unique symbol, the stethoscope.

The BJP’s vote count dropped by 10,671 votes compared to the 2021 polls. “But Mr. Sreedharan secured those votes as a recognition for his personal charm. I am no way near Mr. Sreedharan,” said Mr. Krishnakumar after the verdict.

The total votes polled (1.38 lakh) included 815 postal ballots. When the UDF got 337 of them, the BJP polled 303, and the LDF 137.

Published - November 23, 2024 07:31 pm IST