Kerala: Victory for UDF in Vengara by poll, BJP slips to fourth spot

In a major relief for the opposition in Kerala, UDF candidate, K N A Khader of Indian Union Muslim league (IUML) has won the by-election in Vengara constituency.

Khader outplayed his rival P P Basheer of CPI(M) with a margin of 23,310 votes.

While the veteran leader of IUML garnered 65227 votes, his CPI(M) counterpart managed 41,917 who was followed by SDPI's KC Naseer at 3rd spot with 8,658 votes.

However, NDA slipped to 4th spot as BJP candidate K J Janachandran Master managed to get only 5728 votes.

Despite the glittering victory, things are not looking good for UDF as the result shows descent in margin from 38,057 in 2016 general election to 23,310.

The margin dropped by 14, 747 at a time when the total votes polled rose from 1,20,295 in 2016 to 1,22,623 this time.

BJP too served a huge setback as K J Janachandran lost their vote share as compared to 2016 general assembly election.

While P T Ali Haji managed to bag 7,055 votes for the saffron party in 2016, this time around the vote share dipped by 1,327 votes to 5,728.

The result is expected to create more ripples in the party as the result comes at a time when the national leadership is carrying out a full-fledged campaign against the ruling left front in Kerala.

CPM FOR THE SECOND SPOT

Though CPI(M) will have to settle for the second spot, they have more reasons to cheer than any other party. They have made significant inroads into the green bastion of IUML.

For the first time in the history of Vengara constituency, the runner-up has garnered more votes than the lead margin of the winner.

P P basher increased the vote share for the left party from 34,124 in 2016 to 41,917 this time, a spike of 7,793 votes.

Social Democratic Party of India bettered their performance from last time, as they stepped up from 4th of 3rd position with 8,648 votes.

The election results have already kicked off allegations and counter allegations between parties in the state.

While UDF claims that the result is a strong message to the poor performance of left government, CPI(M) highlights their increase in vote share in the green bastion.

BJP tries to defend their pathetic performance by charging Jihadi allegations against both LDF and UDF.