Chandy Oommen, the Congress candidate at the Puthuppally Assembly constituency in Kerala, won his debut election on Friday, September 8, with a record breaking majority of 37,719 votes. While the Congress called it a crushing blow to the “arrogant and corrupt” governance of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, the CPI(M) has dubbed it a sympathy wave. The election became necessary after the passing away of sitting Congress legislator Oommen Chandy, a two-time former Chief Minister who represented the constituency from 1970 for 53 years.
By winning with a margin of 37,719 votes, he breached the highest victory margin which his father Oommen Chandy got in 2011. Oommen Chandy got a margin of 33,255 in 2011, the highest in his 12 outings from 1970. While Chandy Oommen secured 80,144 voters, the CPI(M) candidate Jaick C Thomas got 42,425 and the BJP candidate Lijin Lal finished with a mere 6,558 votes.
Jaick had formerly contested and lost against Oommen Chandy in the 2016 and 2021 Assembly elections, though he had significantly reduced Oommen Chandy’s vote margin in 2021. With a third failure in succession, Jaick has become the first candidate to lose against a father and son.
Chandy Oommen attributed his win to his father, calling it his 13th victory. “I would like to thank all the people of Puthuppally who have given me this and from now on, I will be responsible for the welfare of every individual in my constituency,” he said.
“I fully agree that it’s going to be a huge challenge as my father nurtured this constituency for the past 53 years and I assure you all that I will strive to do my best,” he added.
CPI(M) state secretary MV Govindan said there was a sympathy wave in the constituency and not an anti-incumbency factor. “Even though we lost, the important thing is our voter base is intact. By Chandy Oommen’s admission that this is the 13th victory of Oommen Chandy, it clearly shows that the sympathy factor raged and it was not against the governance. However, the CPI(M) will introspect on the result,” said Govindan.
State Congress president K Sudhakaran said this was a vote against “Pinarayi’s arrogance, widespread corruption, and bad governance.” He added that the Congress was sure they would win handsomely. “There was definitely a sympathy factor for our late leader Oommen Chandy but the vote is also against the Vijayan’s bad governance,” he said.
Another feature of the massive win is that Chandy Oommen gained a lead in 181 of the 182 polling booths, as against 2021 when Jaick led in 54 polling booths.
Shafi Parambil, three-time Congress legislator and State Youth Congress president, alleged that after losing, the CPI(M) has now turned its ire towards the people by resorting to violence at Manarcadu — Jaick’s hometown. “Few people have been injured and they came under duress of the CPI(M) cadres because they voted for the Congress,” said Shafi.
Chandy Oommen will be sworn in on Monday when the Assembly session resumes. It was suspended last month, soon after the Election Commission announced the bye-election.