Congress candidate Chandy Oommen, son of former Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, on Monday won the Puthuppally assembly constituency, securing one of the biggest victory margins in the state elections.
According to Election Commission data, Oommen polled 84,031 votes, defeating CPI(M)’s KM Radhakrishnan, who secured 31,124 votes, by a margin of 52,907 votes after all 15 rounds of counting were completed.
The result reinforces Puthuppally’s long-standing reputation as a Congress stronghold and extends the political legacy of his father, Oommen Chandy, who represented the constituency for over five decades, winning from here multiple times between 1970 and 2021.
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Oommen had earlier won the 2023 bypoll from the seat with a margin exceeding 37,000 votes, significantly higher than his father’s victory margin in the 2021 assembly elections.
On the campaign trail, he blended legacy appeal with targeted messaging, alleging neglect of the constituency by the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) and a lack of development funds. He also ran a low-visibility “green campaign”, avoiding flex boards and banners. His bicycle outreach, where he met constituents while riding through the constituency, drew attention online, with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi joining him for one such campaign.
Meanwhile, celebrations broke out at the KPCC headquarters, where party workers raised slogans, beat drums and distributed sweets as television screens showed the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) crossing the halfway mark and surging past 100 seats in the 140-member Assembly.
