Neyyattinkara by-election Results:by-election today

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A crucial by-election to the Kerala Assembly from Neyyattinkara segment in the district would be held on Saturday after a tumultuous month-long campaign by the ruling Congress-led UDF and opposition LDF and BJP.


A total of 1.6 lakh voters are eligible to cast their ballots in the polls.


Though the main battle in Neyyatinkara, situated in the southernmost part of the state, is between R Selvaraj (Congress) and F Lawrence (CPI-M) of LDF, entry of former Union Minister and senior BJP leader O. Rajagopal has virtually turned the contest into a three-cornered one.


The by-poll is especially crucial for the CPI-M as it is their sitting seat, vacated by R Selvaraj, who has joined the Congress and is now contesting on the 'hand' symbol.


The poll also comes at a time when the CPIM is facing flak over the 'politics of violence' allegedly perpetrated by them, as several party activists had been arrested in connection with the murder of RMP leader T P Chandrasekharan at Onchiyam in Kozhikode on May 4.


The party had lost the recent bypoll at Piravom where UDF candidate Anoop Jacob won by a huge majority and restored the UDF's tally to 72 in the 140-member assembly.


Only a win for LDF in Neyyattinkara will enable them to retain their number in the assembly at 68, which they secured in the 2011 polls.


While the CPI-M used the 'traitor' tag against Selvaraj and the rising prices during its campaign, the UDF highlighted the achievements of the one-year rule of the Oommen Chandy Government.


UDF also seized on the recent outburst of CPI-M district secretary M M Mani that his party had killed its political rivals to intensify its campaign against 'murder politics.'


Neyyatinkara has a total electorate of 1,64,970. Selvaraj won the seat in 2011 with a margin of over 6,000 votes defeating his nearest Congress rival Thampanoor Ravi, who had won the seat in 1991, 1996 and 2006.