Desk |
Updated: Nov 20, 2024 23:01 IST
Palakkad (Kerala) [India], November 20 (Desk): Left Democratic Front (LDF) candidate for the Palakkad Assembly by-election, P Sarin expressed confidence that the alliance will get more than double the votes it secured in the 2021 assembly polls and the bypolls would be a “one-sided affair.”
“The people have a lot of expectations from this election with respect to the candidate that they are going to elect. They have lost the opportunity not once but thrice and they want to compensate for that. This bypoll will be a one-sided affair. LDF will get more than double the votes it got in 2021, that is, not less than 70,000,” Sarin told Desk.
He further said that there is no anti-incumbency in Palakkad but there is an “anti-MLA factor” as the incumbent MLA didn’t do any work here.
“The MLA couldn’t do anything for the past 13.5 years which has gone against that front. This is one-sided bypolls. People were not keen on allegations, they were focused on developmental issues. This is a reconciliation that people are going to make with LDF. This will be compensation for 2021 when 99 constituencies pro-democratic and pro-secular votes were shifted towards LDF but not Palakkad,” he further added.
Sarin is up against United Democratic Front (UDF) candidate Rahul Mamkootathil in the bypolls, while the BJP has fielded C Krishnakumar from the seat.
Earlier in the day, BJP candidate for Palakkad Assembly byelection C Krishnakumar cast his vote at a polling booth in Palakkad on Wedneday. After casting his vote, Mamkootathil exuded confidence of winning the seat.
Krishnakumar said, “Definitely we will win this election from Palakkad. We are expecting more than 10,000 votes. We are projecting developmental issues. Voters are interested in discussing development issues. The other two fronts are discussing about the controversies. It is more than decades, people of Palakkad are expecting development. That is not fulfilled. We are discussing paddy procurement issues, drinking water facilities and infrastructure.”
Palakkad bye-election is important for all three parties Congress CPI(M) and BJP. BJP has fielded C Krishnakumar, a native of Palakkad. After the declaration of election BJP state committee member Sandeep Varier left BJP and joined Congress party.
The bypolls on the seat were necessitated after MLA Shafi Parambil left the seat and contested in the Lok Sabha elections from the Vadakara constituency.
Meanwhile, voting was held for bypolls in 15 assembly seats across Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Kerala and Uttarakhand on Wednesday. (Desk)
