Puthuppally bypoll: CPI(M) set to name Chandy Oommen's opponent; Jaick C Thomas frontrunner

The Puthuppally seat fell vacant after the demise of Congress leader Oommen Chandy on July 18. The Election Commission on Tuesday (Aug 8) announced the by-election in Puthuppally to be held on September 5.

Kottayam: The CPM state secretariat on Friday (Aug 11) will take a decision on the candidate for Puthuppally bypolls scheduled on September 5. The official announcement by the Left party will be made on Saturday (Aug 12).  According to reports, eight local committees of CPM reportedly named Jaick C Thomas as the candidate for the Puthuppally bypolls. The district committee and district secretariat forwarded the proposal to the state committee.

The Election Commission on Tuesday (Aug 8) announced the by-election in Puthuppally to be held on September 5. The seat fell vacant following the demise of former chief minister Oommen Chandy on July 18. The Election Commission said in a statement that it has decided to hold a bye-election to fill vacancies in 7 Assembly Constituencies of 6 States i.e. Jharkhand, Kerala, Tripura, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. 

The counting of votes will take place on September 8, 2023. 

Due to Oommen Chandy's 53 years of representation in Puthuppally, the UDF has fielded his son Chandy Oommen for the bypolls. The LDF currently controls six of the constituency's eight panchayats, which presents a significant challenge for the UDF. Jaick, who competed twice against Chandy, reduced Chandy's margin of victory from 27,092 in 2016 to 9,044 in 2021.