In Vattiyoorkavu, the Congress has fielded Mohan Kumar, former DCC president, against VK Prasanth, CPM candidate and Thiruvananthapuram Mayor, and BJP candidate and district party president S Suresh. In Konni, the fight is between K Surendran of the BJP, Mohanraj of the Congress and KU Janeesh Kumar. Ernakulam will see a heated battle primarily between Congress candidate TJ Vinod and CPM-backed Independent candidate Manu Roy. In Manjeswaram, the battle is between Raveesha Thanthri Kuntar of the BJP, Shankar Rai of the CPM and MC Kamaruddin of the UDF. Aroor is the fifth seat where CPM candidate Manu C Pulikkal goes head to head with Congress candidate Shanimol Usman and BJP candidate KP Prakash Babu.
The results in the bye-elections to five Assembly constituencies in Kerala prove that there are no realignments to the state’s existing political equations. Voters in the constituencies of Aroor, Ernakulam, Konni, Manjeswar and Vattiyoorkavu, that witnessed bye-elections on October 21, gave both the ruling LDF and the Opposition UDF enough reasons to cheer, while keeping the BJP out. Read more
Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan said the bypoll results prove that the seeds of communalism will not sprout in Kerala, alluding to the defeat of BJP candidates. He added that the victory of the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation Mayor VK Prasanth in Vattiyoorkavu was a harbinger of the party's direction and growth in the state. "It's a seat where we came third last time in 2016. Today, we have won the seat," he said.
monthly limit of free stories.
with an Express account.
The biggest winning margin in this round of bypolls has been registered in Vattiyoorkavu where VK Prasanth of the CPM overcame his Congress rival by 14,465 votes. At the same time, the lowest victory margin is in Aroor where Shanimol Usman of the Congress won by 2079 votes.
A candidate of the Congress has emerged triumphant in the coastal constituency of Aroor after 58 years. Shanimol Usman of the Congress defeated Manu C Pulikkal of the CPM in the Aroor bypoll by close to 2000 votes.
In the run up-to the campaigning in the Vattiyoorkavu bypoll, the Nair Service Society (NSS), that wields influence among the Hindu Nair community, had indicated that its support will be for the UDF candidate K Mohankumar. In fact, it tweaked its earlier policy of 'samadooram' (equal distance) to 'saridooram' (right distance). But now, with the CPM candidate VK Prasanth winning Vattiyoorkavu by a 14000 vote margin, it seems that the NSS move may have backfired on the UDF. Nair voters form a big chunk of the electorate in the constituency and it looks like they may not have followed the NSS directions after all.
Ernakulam and Manjeswar, two stronghold seats of the UDF, will remain with the coalition, according to EC trends right now. While all the booths have been counted in Ernakulam, TJ Vinod of the Congress is leading there by 3673 votes. CPM's Manu Roy is in second place followed by CR Rajagopal of the BJP in third place. A formal notification from the EC is awaited.
In Manjeswar, UDF candidate MC Kamaruddin has a powerful lead of 9537 votes over his BJP rival Raveesha Thanthri Kuntar. 122 of the 199 booths have been counted so far.
Thiruvananthapuram Mayor V K Prashant is ahead by over 12,000 votes in Vattiyoorkavu against his nearest UDF rival K Mohankumar.
In Konni, LDF's K U Jinesh Kumar is leading by over 7,000 votes against his UDF rival P Mohanrajan.
While Shanimol Usman of the UDF is leading by over 1,600 votes in Aroor, a stronghold of the LDF, in Ernakulam T J Vinod is ahead by 3,600 votes and in Manjeshwaram in Kasaragod UDF candidate M C Kamaruddin has established a lead of over 9,000 votes.
It does seem that Kerala's two principal coalitions, the LDF and UDF, will share honours in this round of 5 bypoll seats. While the UDF is leading in three seats, the LDF is set to win two seats. The BJP is trailing everywhere.
Vattiyoorkavu - LDF leading
Konni - LDF leading
Aroor - UDF leading
Ernakulam - UDF leading
Manjeswar - UDF leading
For a party that has always found the going tough in Kerala, the subject of women's entry at the Sabarimala temple and the reaction it aroused across the Hindu community in Kerala had generated hopes of a revival within the BJP. It organised massive protests and attemped to galvanise support for political gains last year. But as evident in the 2019 general elections, the Sabarimala issue did little for the BJP. It trailed everywhere in the third position, except in Thiruvananthapuram where it managed a respectable second position. In fact, the Sabarimala issue helped the Congress and the UDF to sweep the state in the general elections.
Even in this round of bypolls, the BJP campaigned primarily on the issue of Hindu sentiments over Sabarimala. But the results show a different picture. In Vattiyoorkavu, Konni and Manjeswaram, which the BJP was hoping to win, it is sadly nowhere. Only in Manjeswaram, the party is in second position. The question therefore is, are the Sabarimala dividends wearing off? It seems so.
In both the 2014 and 2019 LS polls, the fight in Vattiyoorkavu was between the Congress and the BJP, with the CPM in a distant third position. But in a major upset, the CPM has been successful in making giant inroads into the UDF and NDA vote-banks. As of 10:15 am, CPM candidate VK Prasanth is leading by 6798 votes, a monster margin and unlikely to be scaled back.
This is clearly a validation of the flood-relief efforts and work of Thiruvananthapuram Mayor VK Prasanth, who contested as the CPM candidate this time. Social media networks are lighting up as we speak. Prasanth, popularly known as 'mayor bro', is all set to be called 'MLA bro' with his election into the state assembly
As of trends right now, Manjeswar, the northernmost Assembly constituency in Kerala, looks set to remain with the UDF. The Muslim League candidate MC Kamaruddin is leading there by 4501 votes, followed closely by BJP candidate Raveesh Thanthri Kuntar and CPM candidate in third place. With 45 of the 199 booths already counted, this certainly looks like a lead that can't be shaken off. The good news for the BJP is that it's the only seat among the five where the saffron party has come in second. Remember, the BJP had come in second for the last few elections.
This is an Assembly seat that has been with the Congress for the last 23 years and has large concentration of Orthodox Christian and Hindu Nair voters. Situated not very far away from the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple, Konni saw a fierce triangular fight for the first time during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls when the BJP ran a feverish campaign on the agenda of women's entry at Sabarimala. K Surendran, who contested the Pathanamthitta seat in the Lok Sabha polls and came a close third, is fighting again in Konni with the hope of creating an upset.
But so far, the BJP's efforts are not bearing fruit. As of trends at 9:38 am, CPM candidate KU Janeesh Kumar is leading by 2347 votes, followed by Congress candidate P Mohanraj and Surendran in third place.
Vattiyoorkavu - VK Prasanth (CPM) leading by 958 votes
Aroor - Shanimol Osman (Congress) leading by 641 votes
Manjeswar - MC Kamaruddin (IUML) leading by 2714 votes
Ernakulam - TJ Vinod (Congress) leading by 2117 votes
Konni - KU Janeesh Kumar (CPM) leading by 1255 votes
One, the Asembly seat, largely urban in character and population, is situated right in the middle of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. Two, it is one among the three seats which are witnessing tight triangular contests between the Congress, CPM and BJP. Three, it has found prominent position in the news cycle for allegations of vote-trading between the three coalitions. Four, it was a seat the BJP led during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, a rarity for the party, and came second in the 2016 Assembly and 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Five, Thiruvananthapuram Mayor VK Prasanth, hailed on social media for his efforts during the floods this year, is contesting as a CPM candidate and is seeking to win back the seat for his party.
The first leads in the five byelections are now up on the Election Commission Website. The Congress-led UDF is leading in four seats while the LDF is leading in one seat. This is great news for the UDF as it had sitting MLAs in four seats and is desperate to retain them all. The LDF is leading only in the Vattiyoorkavu seats. Remember, these are just the initial leads and they are quite narrow. There's a very good chance that these leads go up and down anytime.
A very warm good morning to all our readers joining us for the live counting of votes in the five Assembly bypoll seats in Kerala. This has been an exciting and competitive election and seen as a virtual curtain-raiser before the local body polls next year, and more importantly the Assembly elections due in 2021. The vote counting process began at 8 am and an hour has passed. The first leads are now coming in.