Malappuram (Kerala): The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) candidate K.N.A. Khader won the Vengara by-election on Sunday, with a hefty margin of 23,310 votes.
Kerala assembly #VengaraByElection: UDF's KNA Khader wins, LDF second, SDPI third and NDA at fourth position pic.twitter.com/rGUWdpXQPI
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According to the Chief Electoral Officer, Khader got 65,227 votes, CPI-M candidate P.P. Basheer came second with 41,917 votes followed by SDPI candidate K.C. Naseer and the Bharatiya Janata Party fielded candidate K Janachandran Master in the third and fourth positions.
A total of 502 voters pressed the NOTA button.
IUML – the second biggest constituent of the Congress-led UDF, has fielded two-time former legislator K.N.A. Khader, who expressed confidence that he will have a cakewalk.
“I am going back with lots of happiness as the Left did their best to see the back of me, but I managed to win easily. I thank all the people of this constituency and the UDF leaders,” said Khader.
IUML chief P.K. Kunhalikutty who vacated the Vengara seat and later won the Malappuram Lok Sabha seat earlier this year said the CPI-M used all its might, but we knew what was going to be the outcome.
“No candidate in any bye-election in Kerala may have gotten such a big majority. This is a great win for us. This victory in Vengara is a sign that nobody can ever defeat the Muslim League and Congress,” PK Kunjalikutty, League national general secretary told reporters.
Kunhalikutty won this seat in the 2016 assembly polls with a margin of over 38,000 votes.
Meanwhile, Communist Party of India-Marxist state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said the results showed that the Congress-led opposition was on its way out.
“The IUML might have a technical victory, but we have scored a political victory.”
IANS inputs