Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 1 With just few more days left for campaigning in the Puthuppally Assembly bypoll, Kerala's ruling CPI-M on Friday spoke about the contest for the first time, saying that it is not going to be a walk over as the Congress thinks.
In response, veteran Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala opined that their candidate Chandy Oommen, son of late former Chief Minister, will win with a staggering margin of 50,000 votes.
The voting will take place on Tuesday, votes will be counted on September 8 and the newly elected legislator will be sworn in on September 11, when the Assembly resumes its session.
The byelection was necessitated after the passing away of sitting Congress legislator- Oommen Chandy, who had represented the constituency from 1970 for a record breaking 53 years, which no other legislator in Kerala has achieved.
On Friday, CPI-M state Secretary M.V.Govindan said the Congress thinks it will be a one-sided poll battle.
"The fact of the matter is the battle at Puthuppally is a political one and nothing can be ruled out and the Congress shouldn’t think it’s going to be an easy walk over for them," he said, adding that the Congress now has realised that things are different to what they were when the election was announced.
But Chennithala said Chandy Oommen will win with a margin of 50,000 votes as the Oommen Chandy factor is there in the constituency, moreover the performance of the present Pinarayi Vijayan government also will be assessed.
In the 12 elections that Chandy contested and won from 1970, his highest margin of victory (around 33,000 votes) was in the 2011 polls when he went on to become the Chief Minister for a second time.
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