Nilambur (Kerala), June 23 (IANS) Congress candidate Aryadan Shoukath, who on Monday registered a stellar victory at the Nilambur Assembly by-election in Kerala by securing 77,737 votes to win with a margin of 11,077 votes, has bettered his late father and long-time MLA Aryadan Mohammed’s electoral performance.

Aryadan Mohammed was a legend in Nilambur by winning a record eight times and losing thrice.

However, Shoukath won the seat in his second poll battle – after losing in 2016, but his father could win only in his third attempt in the 1977 polls after losing in 1965 and 1967.

In the present election, CPI-M candidate M.Swaraj finished second, and got 66,660 votes.

More importantly, the Congress-led UDF has regained Nilambur for the first time after the 2011 Assembly polls.

In 2016, P.V. Anvar, fielded as a Left-backed independent candidate, beat Shoukath by 11,504 votes, and he retained the seat in 2021, defeating the then Congress candidate V.V.Prakash by 2,800 votes.

This time, Anvar, whose resignation necessitated the bypoll, contested as an independent candidate and got 19,760 votes, while the BJP’s candidate Mohan George ended up with 8,648 votes and forfeited his deposit money.

However, Anvar surprised all with the number of votes he managed to secure.

CPI-M state Secretary M.V.Govindan, reflecting on the defeat, claimed that the UDF has lost votes in the bypolls said as compared to the 2021 polls.

“For us, this is one constituency where we cannot win in a political fight, and we have won when we put up independent candidates. The votes for the BJP-led NDA have come down as compared to 2016, and since the BJP candidate never had a chance, their votes have gone elsewhere. Moreover, the votes of the Jamat-e-Islami, all know where they have gone from the words of the Leader of Opposition V.D. Satheesan. The tactic of the Congress is to use both majority and minority communalism, and has resulted in the victory of the Congress,” Govindan maintained, adding that the Left worked only for secular votes, and they will go forward in the same manner.

“This has nothing to do with any wave against the Left government, and we are on track to form a third successive Left government,” he said, referring to the Assembly elections due next year.

On his part, Satheesan said this victory is for the ‘Team UDF’.

“We, right from the start of our campaign, were able to sense that there was a massive anger against the (Chief Minister Pinarayi) Vijayan government’s nine years of rule. The Team UDF, comprising leaders and workers, worked very hard, and we got exactly what we had expected. We will continue to work as Team UDF as we are going to win a landslide win at the 2026 Assembly polls,” he asserted.

–IANS

sg/vd