Nilambur, June 23 (IANS) The most keenly awaited Nilambur Assembly by-election result in Kerala on Monday saw Congress candidate Aryadan Shoukath winning hands down with 11,077 votes, leading over his closest rival.

While Shoukath got 77,737 votes, the CPI(M) candidate M. Swaraj got 66,660, Independent candidate P.V. Anvar got 19,760, and the BJP candidate Mohan George got 8,648.

The biggest surprise came when Shoukath performed extremely well in the strong CPI(M)-led Left areas, and more importantly, in Swaraj’s own polling booth, where the latter was trailing.

Incidentally, Swaraj is a member of the powerful State Secretariat member and it was for the first time in a by-election in 28 years that a Secretariat member has lost.

However, the man who was responsible for this by-election, P.V. Anvar, can feel happy that, contrary to expectations that he would have to settle for around 5,000 votes, he managed to get almost four times. He had quit this seat in January after differences of opinion with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

“My father (Aryadan Mohammed) saw Congress losing the Nilambur seat twice when he was alive, and he was heartbroken that he could not win it. Now his soul will be happy,” said Shoukath, hugging his aged mother with tears in his eyes.

Mohammed represented Nilambur eight times and lost thrice. In 2016, he retired from active politics and passed away in 2022.

“We expected a margin of over 10,000. This is a victory for Nilambur people and a verdict against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan,… the takeover has started from Nilambur,” said Shoukath and added, “I owe this victory to all people who voted for me and the entire team of the Congress-led UDF”.

“Nothing unexpected has happened as it has gone exactly according to what we had scripted,” responded Shoukath to the votes that Anvar has received.

Reacting to the shock defeat, Swaraj said he wishes Shoukath all the best.

“This was a political election, and we did our best and we did our job telling the electorate the work done by the Left government. We will continue to work for the people. I don’t think this is a vote against the Left government,” said Swaraj.

AICC general secretary (Organisation) K.C.Venugopal, who was at Nilambur for the campaign, said, “In the last four by-elections (since 2021) and even when we lost Chelakkara, we increased our votes. At Nilambur, we have regained this seat, and this is a clear signal of the massive anti-incumbency against Vijayan.”

A.K. Antony, who was the closest aide of Aryadan Mohammed, said that through Nilambur, the people have given a shock treatment to CM Vijayan.

“I express my gratitude to the voters and the entire UDF team…My dearest friend Mohammed’s son has regained Nilambur. Now with this defeat, the verdict is clear that Vijayan’s governance is only a caretaker one and from now on it’s just a matter of time before the Congress-led UDF returns to power,” said Antony.

–IANS

sg/dpb