Thiruvananthapuram | Jagran News Desk: The Left in Kerala on Friday snatched a big victory from Congress after it won the By-Poll elections in Pala constituency.
The Left Democratic Front (LDF) candidate Mani C Kappan emerged victorious in the Pala assembly bypolls and defeated United Democratic Front’s (UDF) Jose Tom by 2943 votes.
This is the first time in 54 years that the constituency has chosen a representative who is not from the Congress party.
Pala was earlier represented by veteran Kerala Congress leader and former Finance Minister KM Mani for 54 years. He died in April this year at 86, which necessitated the Pala assembly bypoll.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Sitaram Yechury congratulated the LDF's Pala winner.
“Congratulations, Pala! For the first time in 54 years, we are humbled and grateful that the people have reposed their trust in the Left here,” he said in a Tweet.
Around 72 per cent of the 1.79 lakh voters have exercised their franchise in the by-election in which 13 candidates were in the fray.
In the 2016 elections, 77 per cent polling was recorded when Mani won by a margin of 4,703 votes against his rival Mani C Kappen of NCP.
This bypoll victory is a morale booster for the LDF after its poor show in the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections which held in April and May. In the 2019 Lok Sabha Election, the Left won only one of the 20 parliamentary seats in the southern state.