Communist Party of India (Marxist)’s rebel candidate made local headlines when he won the byelection held in Ward 1 (Ariyakode) of the Erimayur grama panchayat in the district on Tuesday.
Ameer, an expelled branch committee member of the CPI(M), was elected by a margin of 377 votes, giving a shock to the party district leadership. He defeated Congress’s Kuttan and Left Democratic Front’s official candidate Mohanakrishnan of the Communist Party of India.
The byelection was necessitated when the Congress’s elected member resigned after getting a job. When the LDF leadership offered the seat to the CPI, a section within the CPI(M) protested. Mr. Ameer was expelled from the party as he refused to obey the party.
However, a section in the CPI(M) campaigned for Mr. Ameer, ignoring the warnings of the party leadership. His victory is viewed as a challenge to the party district leadership.
The following were the results of the byelections held in other local bodies in the district.
Palakkad district panchayat: CPI(M)’s K. Sreedharan won the byelection held in the Sreekrishnapuram division by polling 21,908 votes.
Kuzhalmannam block panchayat: CPI(M)’s Somadasan won from the Chungamannam division by polling 3,925 votes.
Tharoor grama panchayat: CPI(M)’s M. Sandhya won from Ward 1 by polling 590 votes.
Ongallur grama panchayat: CPI(M)’s K. Asokan won from Ward 8 by polling 693 votes.
Eruthempathy grama panchayat: CPI(M)’s R. Ramesh Kumar won from Ward 7 by polling 496 votes.
