In a boost to UDF ahead of Assembly polls in Kerala next year, Congress candiate K S Sabarinadhan today won the Aruvikkara Assembly bypoll by a margin of 10,128 votes defeating his nearest rival M Vijayakumar of Opposition LDF.
Sabarinadhan, son of former speaker G Karthikeyan got 56,448 votes while Vijayakumar got 46,320 votes. BJP candiate and former union minister O Rajagopal received 34,145 votes.
Thanking the voters, Sabarinadhan said he will “continue the work left in the constituency by his father Karthikeyan.”
He also expressed his gratitude to UDF government and also the people who voted for him braving rains.
He made a special mention of women voters, who outnumbered men in the constituency, thanking them.
The poll was necessitated following the death of Karthikeyan in February last.
An estimated 77.35 per cent voters exercised their franchise during the election held on June 27.
Though there were 16 candidates in the fray, the main contest was between the Congress, CPI-M and BJP candidates.
With this, the UDF strength in the Assembly stood at 74 as against LDF’s 65 in the 140-member assembly.
The lone MLA of Kerala Congress (B) K B Ganesh Kumar, who snapped ties with UDF, is keeping away from both fronts.