Puthuppally Bypoll: Voter Turnout at 71.68% as Congress, CPI(M) Go Head to Head

The bypoll was necessitated by the demise of Congress strongman Oommen Chandy on 18 July.

A polling booth in Puthuppally constituency in Kerala's Kottayam district.

(Photo: PTI)

After 53 years of Congress rule in Kottayam's Puthuppally, the constituency is in the midst of a high-voltage contest between the Congress-led UDF and the CPI(M)-led LDF. The by-election to the constituency on Tuesday, 5 September, which was necessitated by the demise of Congress leader and former Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on 18 July, saw a voter turnout of 71.68 percent, as per latest reports. The polling has ended.

The bypoll in Puthuppally – which has 1.75 lakh registered voters – took place across 182 polling stations. It has eight panchayats, which have predominantly Christian and Hindu populations.  

The Congress, banking on the sympathy wave that followed the passing of Chandy – or Kunjoonju, as he was dearly called – fielded his son Chandy Oommen in Puthuppally. 

Chandy Oommen, one of the three children of Oommen Chandy, has been working with the Congress at an organisational level since his college days. A lawyer by profession, he is currently the chairman of the Indian Youth Congress' national outreach cell as well as a member of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC).

Though Chandy was the obvious choice for the Congress due to his father's popularity, Jaick C Thomas, the CPI(M)'s candidate, has emerged as a strong contender in the election. AICC leaders like Shashi Tharoor, KC Venugopal, and an ailing AK Antony were part of Chandy's campaigns.

Thirty-two-year-old Thomas, who is a CPI(M) state committee member and the former president of the Students' Federation of India, is a youth leader whose battle cry is "development." A native of Manarcadu village in Kottayam, Jaick was born to a Jacobite Christian family. He had contested against Chandy in Puthuppally in 2016 and in 2021.

Despite losing to Chandy both times, he managed to put a dent in the latter's victory margin in the 2021 Assembly elections. Thomas' campaign this time has centred around the narrative that the Puthuppally constituency, under Oommen Chandy, lacks development – a statement his son has vehemently criticised.

Moreover, of the eight panchayats under Puthuppally, six are ruled by the Left Democratic Front, led by the CPI(M). The bypoll, therefore, is a matter of prestige for Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan as well, who has visited the constituency for campaigning at least thrice.

G Lijin Lal is contesting for the BJP, which has little to no presence in the segment. He is the party's Kottayam district president. The BJP's campaign primarily banks on the promises and schemes of the Narendra Modi government at the centre. 

But the party's campaigning was an intensive one, with senior leaders, including Union Minister of State Rajeev Chandrasekhar, campaigning for Lijin Lal. Newly joined Anil Antony, who is the son of veteran Congress leader AK Antony, also made appearances. The party also didn't waste an opportunity to take a jibe at the CPI(M) and Congress for being part of the 'INDIA' bloc while fighting it out in Puthuppally. 

There are four other candidates in the fray in Puthuppally, inclduing an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Luke Thomas and three Independents.