Puthupally bypoll result: Chandy Oommen, the son who kept the legacy alive
UDF's Chandy Oommen created history in the Puthuppally byelection by outpacing his late father's lead of 33,255 during the 2011 Kerala assembly elections with 36,454 votes this time.
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FollowKottayam: The anxious wait for the Puthuppally seat has come to an end on Friday (Sep 8) after the counting of votes for byelection was undertaken by the Election Commission. The Puthuppally has got its new Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) of the United Democratic Front (UDF) candidate Chandy Oommen.
Reacting to his historic win in the Puthuppally constituency, Chandy Oommen said, "I thank the people for electing me as the MLA. The development of the Puthuppally started by my father (Oommen Chandy) will continue."
The Assembly seat fell vacant following the demise of Congress stalwart and former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy who served Puthuppally for 53 years beginning from 1970.
Chandy Oommen, the son of the late Congress veteran, won the Puthuppally byelection and was elected as an MLA for the first time. His victory could be considered a humble tribute by his supporters. He had campaigned with utmost hope to retain the seat in the constituency soon after the byelection was announced to be held on September 5. Following in his father's footsteps, Chandy has succeeded in keeping the legacy alive.
UDF won by 36,454 votes and gained a total of 78,098 votes. LDF's Jaick C Thomas earned 41,644 votes while the BJP's Ligin Lal gained 6,447 votes. The 37-year-old candidate, who was clearly riding a sympathy wave, not only won comfortably but also created history by outpacing his late father's lead of 33,255 during the 2011 Kerala assembly elections.
Oommen also known as Junior Chandy is a lawyer by profession in the Supreme Court.
Oommen, who has been involved in politics for more than 15 years, is currently in charge of the Youth Congress' national outreach cell. The young activist was the state secretary of the Youth Congress in 2013 and is a member of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC). A full-time participant in the "Bharat Jodo Yatra," he travelled with Rahul Gandhi for 150 days across 12 states, from Kanyakumari to Kashmir, covering a distance of about 3,500 kilometres.
He studied at Loyola School in 1992, and from the esteemed St Stephen's College in New Delhi, he earned a BA with honours and an MA in history. In the academic year 2006–2007, he served as the college students' union's president. He completed his LLB at Delhi University and his LLM in criminology at the National Law University, New Delhi, following his post-graduate studies in 2015–16. Oommen pursued his LLM in constitutional law at Christ University, Bengaluru, after successfully completing a summer course at the London School of Economics in 2018.
Chandy also participated with the Congress MP Rahul Gandhi in the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
