Puthuppally Bypoll Result 2023 Winner: Congress Candidate Chandy Oommen Wins By 36,667 Votes

Puthuppally Bypoll Result 2023 Winner: Puthuppally constituency was the turf of Oommen Chandy who held the seat ever since 1970s.

In a much-anticipated Puthuppally constituency poll battle between the ruling LDF and Opposition UDF in Kerala, Congress candidate Chandy Oommen, son of former CM Oommen Chandy, emerged as the winner by a margin of 36,667 votes on Friday. The constituency is the turf of Oommen Chandy who held the seat ever since 1970s. The bypoll to Puthuppally was necessitated after the demise of Oommen Chandy. The bypoll was held on September 5. 

According to the Election Commission of India, while Chandy Oommen received 78,649 of the total votes, Jaick C Thomas received 41,982 votes. BJP candidate Ligin Lal failed to even reach 10,000 votes. Ligin received 6,447 of the total votes.

Chandy Oommen is a Supreme Court lawyer. He completed his graduation in history and law. He did his LLB at Delhi University and LLM Criminology at National Law University in New Delhi. He also completed his LLM in constitutional law at Christ University in Bengaluru. 

He is a youth wing leader of INC. 

Congress leader AK Antony on Puthupally assembly by-poll result, "I was expecting these results because people of Puthupally were waiting to punish those people (LDF)... It is a punishment by the people's court in Puthupally against those people...My request to CPM and government is please tell the people of Kerala that 'we are sorry about what we've done'..."

Puthuppally Bypoll: An Overview

Around seven contestants were in a faceoff in the fray for Puthuppally Assembly constituency. Among the seven candidates, prominent candidates included Chandy Oommen, son of former Kerala CM Oommen Chandy, Congress-led UDF's candidate, Jaick C Thomas, a DYFI leader and candidate of ruling CPI(M)-led LDF and BJP Kottayam District President G Lijinlal.

The byelections which were being held a few months before Lok Sabha Elections 2024 were seen as vital for both factions since Congress, the Opposition, wanted to retain the seat as an inspection before the Lok Sabha Polls. Furthermore, LDF wanted to gain fresh ground by winning the constituency held by the former Congress CM.

On Tuesday, 72.86 per cent voters turned up to exercise their franchise. However, the number was still lesser than the votes cast in the constituency during the state Assembly elections in 2021. The seat saw 74 per cent voters in 2021.