In a keenly fought contest, LDF incumbent and former Minister for Higher Education K.T. Jaleel defeated Firos Kunnamparambil of the Congress in the Thavanur constituency.
Dr. Jaleel had trailed Mr. Kunnamparambil until the last few rounds of counting, giving jitters to the LDF camps in the district. Dr. Jaleel has been widely considered a trump card of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in Malappuram district.
There was excitement throughout the counting as Mr. Kunnamparambil’s thin lead wobbled. The last few rounds of counting favoured Dr. Jaleel giving him a victory margin of 3,066 votes.
Dr. Jaleel polled 68,935 votes when Mr. Kunnamparambil’s 66,750 votes on electronic voting machines.
The Election Commission has not included the postal ballots in them. Bharat Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS) candidate Ramesh Kottayapurath secured 9,756 votes, and Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) candidate Hassan Chiyanoor polled 1,738 votes.
In the 2016 Assembly election, Dr. Jaleel had defeated UDF’s Ifthiqaruddin by 17,064 votes in Thavanur. In 2011, Dr. Jaleel had defeated UDF’s V.V. Prakash by 6,854 votes in Thavanur, a constituency made up of Purathur, Thriprangode, Mangalam, Edappal, Vattamkulam, Kalady, and Thavanur grama panchayats.
From 2006
Dr. Jaleel had begun his victory streak in 2006 by defeating Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) heavyweight P.K. Kunhalikutty in Kuttippuram by 8,781votes. That was the last election held in Kuttippuram constituency, which ceased to exist in the 2008 delimitation.
Dr. Jaleel said that it was a triumph of people’s resolve against the UDF’s unholy nexus with communal forces. He said communal forces such as the SDPI, the Welfare Party of India, and the Bharatiya Janata Party had joined hands with the UDF and worked against him.
“This is the verdict of the people. The people have stood with the LDF. They have given their go-ahead for the policies of the LDF,” he said.
