(Online Desk)

Indian Union of Muslim’s League (IUML) candidate KNA Khader was elected to the Kerala assembly from the Vengara constituency today, by defeating the nearest rival PP Basheer of the CPI (M) by 23,310 votes.

The UDF stronghold witnessed the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) making political advancement in the constituency by increasing their vote share to 41,917 from 34124 in 2016. While UDF’s PK Kunhalikkutty had managed to bag 72181 votes last year, Khader was limited to 65,227 votes.

CPI(M) state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan responded that the increased vote share of the LDF in the constituency is the response of the people to the good performance of the state government.

The BJP, however, had a disappointing campaign as their candidate K Janachandran finished fourth behind SDPI’s KC Naseer at third position with 8648 votes. While the party in power the Centre had managed to poll 7000 votes in the 2016 elections, it could only manage 5728 polls this time.

The sitting MLA of Vengara PK Kunhalikkutty contested and won from the Malappuram Parliament constituency following the demise of E Ahamed earlier this year – paving way for a by-election.