Nilambur bypoll: UDF's Aryadan Shoukath wins with convincing margin
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Nilambur Kerala: UDF candidate Aryadan Shoukath won a landslide victory in the hotly contested Nilambur assembly elections. Shoukath defeated LDF candidate M Swaraj by a margin of 10,792 votes, bringing Nilambur, the long-time stronghold of UDF, back to the UDF fold. When Shoukath secured 69,932 votes, Swaraj, who faced his second consecutive electoral defeat, won 59,140 votes. Swaraj had lost to Congress leader K Babu during the 2021 Kerala Assembly elections at the Tripunithura constituency.
PV Anwar, who broke away from the LDF and contested as an independent candidate, secured 17,873 votes. BJP candidate Adv Mohan George secured 6727 votes and came fourth, while SDPI candidate Adv Sadiq Naduthodi secured 1647 votes.
Aryadan Shoukath maintained a clear lead since the counting of postal votes began. The UDF candidate was able to take the lead in Vazhikadavu, Moothedam, Edakkara, Pothukal, Chungathara, Karulai, Amarambalam panchayats and Nilambur municipality. The LDF faced a setback in Nilambur municipality, Karulai, and Amarambalam panchayats, where it had high hopes.
The by-poll was necessitated after PV Anwar, who won as an LDF-backed independent candidate, resigned as MLA.
