Results declared on Friday showed that 37-year-old Chandy Oommen trounced his main rival Jaick C Thomas of the CPI(M) by a margin of 37,719 votes in the bypoll, which saw nearly a month of vigorous campaigning by leaders of the Congress, CPI(M), and BJP for their respective parties.
The counting of votes polled in the bypoll held in Puthuppally constituency here, which saw an intense battle between the ruling LDF and opposition UDF, began
The candidates were finalised after the deadline for withdrawing the nomination papers ended today and none of the candidates backed out, the statement said.