Malappuram : The Indian Union Muslim League on Monday retained Malappuram Lok Sabha seat with its candidate P K Kunhalikutty winning by over 1.7 lakh votes in the bypoll, defeating the ruling CPI(M)-led LDF nominee.
Kunhalikutty, who defeated his nearest rival M B Faisal (CPI-M), led in all seven assembly constituencies of Kondotty, Manjeri, Perinthalamanna, Mankada, Malappuram, Vengara and Vallikkunnu and won by a margin of 1,71,023 votes.
While Kunhalikutty polled 5,15,330 votes, Faisal got 3,44,307 votes and 65,675 votes went into the kitty of BJP candidate N Sreeprakash.
The bypoll had been necessitated following the demise of E Ahamed, a former Union Minister and leader of IUML, a key partner in the Congress-led UDF Opposition in the state.
CM Pinarayi Vijayan said the LDF’s vote and voting percentage had gone up and the bypoll outcome was not a verdict against the state government. Marxist veteran V S Achuthanandan said Kunhalikutty’s victory margin was natural as Malappuram is a IUML stronghold.
