The vote counting process for the Puthuppally bypoll, a significant political contest between the LDF and UDF, began on Friday. The election holds importance as the Congress aims to retain its traditional stronghold, while the ruling CPI (M) seeks to make inroads ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The bypoll was conducted on September 5 after the seat was left vacant due to the demise of Congress leader Oommen Chandy.
The counting, initially scheduled for 8 am at a local college’s special counting station, faced a brief delay. Postal and service ballots were counted first, with an initial trend expected within a few hours. Key candidates included UDF’s Chandy Oommen, LDF’s Jaick C Thomas, and BJP’s G Lijin Lal. There were a total of 182 booths in Puthuppally, with the electronic voting machine count to be conducted in 13 rounds.
To ensure security, 74 counting officials were on duty, accompanied by 32 CAPF personnel and a 12-member armed battalion. The constituency, located near Kottayam, witnessed intense political rhetoric leading up to the by-election. On the voting day, 72.86 percent of the 1,76,412 registered voters had cast their ballots, as reported by the Chief Electoral Officer.
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