Kerala bypoll: Congress candidate Aryadan Shoukath wins Nilambur, PV Anvar makes a splash

Aryadan Shoukath of the Congress-UDF has taken an early lead in the Nilambur Assembly by-election vote count, surpassing CPI(M) candidate M Swaraj by over 5,000 votes after seven rounds. 

Aryadan Shoukath (left) and PV Anvar (right)

Malappuram: The Election Commission has commenced counting votes for the Nilambur Assembly by-election held on June 19. Congress-United Democratic Front candidate Aryadan Shoukath won the bypoll, securing a total of 77,737 and a margin of 11,07 votes. Communist Party of India (Marxist) candidate M Swaraj secured 66,660 votes.

Moothedam panchayat, a known stronghold of the Indian Union Muslim League, lived up to the UDF's expectations in the Nilambur bypoll. In 2021, the UDF had secured a lead of 2,331 votes in this region. This time, the numbers suggest that the UDF’s vote share remained solid, with no significant shift in League support. Independent candidate PV Anvar, who recently quit as Left Democratic Front (LDF) MLA and joined Trinamool Congress, has secured 19,760 votes. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Mohan George has secured 8,648 votes.

Congress confident of winning

Despite falling short of the 76.60% recorded in 2021, the UDF is confident of winning Nilambur this time. They are not concerned about former Nilambur MLA PV Anvar splitting their votes. The UDF's confidence stems from their belief that they have worked effectively in Nilambur, a constituency where both the Congress and the League have considerable influence, to prevent any erosion of their vote share. The CPM is also hopeful of a win, albeit by a narrow margin. They believe that the relatively lower voter turnout will favor M Swaraj. PV Anvar, who focused his campaign on his strongholds, is confident of demonstrating his support in the constituency.

UDF candidate Aryadan Shoukath responded that there was a good turnout in UDF strongholds. M Swaraj stated that he does not correlate polling percentage with expectations. He pointed out that the Left Front has won all recent elections with good voter turnout. He told Asianet News that he cannot predict the margin of victory and that it is not his style.