The much-awaited Pala assembly by-election result will be declared in a few hours. The counting of votes has been progressing at the Carmel Public School in Pala on Friday morning.
With the counting of votes from seven panchayats completed, Mani C. Kappan has a lead of 2,832 votes. The outcome of the bypoll conducted on September 23 in Pala constituency of Kottayam district in Kerala is expected to be a litmus test for the ruling CPIM-led LDF after its rout in the Lok Sabha polls.
A victory would also give a boost to Congress-led UDF and the BJP-headed NDA in the bylections to five more assembly constituencies—Vattiyoorkavu, Konni, Majeswaram, Ernakulam, Aroor—scheduled for October 21. The counting of votes would begin at 8am on Friday and the result is expected around noon.
The byelection was necessitated by the death of former finance minister and Kerala Congress (M) supremo K.M. Mani, who had held the constituency for more than five decades. Around 72 per cent of the 1.79 lakh voters have exercised their franchise in the by-election in which 13 candidates were in the fray. In the 2016 elections, 77 per cent polling was recorded when K.M. Mani won by a margin of 4,703 votes against his rival Kappen.
The LDF has fielded Kappen as its candidate again while the UDF nominated Jose Tom Pulikkunnel of Kerala Congress. The tussle between the Jose K. Mani and P.J. Joseph factions of the Kerala Congress (M) is expected to affect the vote share of the UDF this time. BJP's Kottayam district president N. Hari fought as the NDA candidate in the bypoll.
