KOTTAYAM: As the 2023 bypoll results unfold, the spotlight is on the Puthuppally assembly constituency in Kerala, where the successor to Oommen Chandy, Chandy Oommen, is about to be revealed. Oommen Chandy had represented the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) in this constituency, while the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) had chosen Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) leader Jaick C Thomas as their candidate. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had put forward G Lijinlal as their candidate. This by-election was necessitated by the unfortunate passing of Chandy, who had tirelessly represented the Kottayam district constituency for over five decades until his demise on July 18. Kerala has been witnessing a seesaw battle between the LDF and UDF for nearly four decades, and if the LDF manages to break this trend under the leadership of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, it would be a historic moment. In the current composition of the 2021 Kerala Assembly, which has a total of 140 seats, the ruling LDF has 99 seats, the UDF has 40, with one seat vacant—Puthuppally.
As the counting of votes for seven by-elections across six states—Jharkhand, Kerala, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and West Bengal—commenced on Friday, early trends indicated that the Congress was leading in Kerala's Puthuppally, with their candidate Chandy Oommen securing 5,699 votes. In Uttar Pradesh's Ghosi assembly constituency, the Samajwadi Party took an early lead with 178 votes, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was trailing, according to initial trends. These by-elections are being closely watched as they mark the first electoral face-off between the BJP-led NDA alliance and the Opposition bloc INDIA, ahead of several major state Assembly polls later this year.
The by-elections in Dumri (Jharkhand), Puthuppally (Kerala), Boxanagar and Dhanpur (Tripura), Bageshwar (Uttarakhand), Ghosi (Uttar Pradesh), and Dhupguri (West Bengal) were held on September 5. In five of these seats, the by-elections were triggered by the unfortunate demise of the sitting MLAs, while in the other two cases, the MLAs resigned from their positions.
In Ghosi and Dumri, the INDIA constituents have unitedly supported the Samajwadi Party and JMM, respectively. In Dhanpur and Boxanagar, the CPI(M) has received backing from the INDIA alliance partners. Notably, in the Dhupguri constituency in Bengal and Kerala's Puthuppally, the bypolls have set the stage for a contest between INDIA alliance partners. In Bageshwar, the BJP is directly challenging the Congress, and interestingly, despite being a Congress ally in the INDIA bloc, the Samajwadi Party has also fielded a candidate, putting Opposition unity to the test.
Bypolls Update: Ghosi Assembly Sees 21.57% Voter Turnout by 11 AM, Bageshwar at 26.03%
