Kerala: Will win Nilambur by-election, claims Congress leader

"Within a few hours after the election date will be announced. We will come up with our candidate. The Left is probably waiting for us to announce ours and waiting to see if they can get anyone from our camp as their candidate. We are going to win hands down this by-election," said Satheesan.

Even though the Election Commission is yet to announce the date of the Nilambur assembly by-election, the traditional rivals - the ruling Left and the Congress-led Opposition on Wednesday have both claimed that they will win the by-election.

Sources said that both political fronts are busy finalising their candidates.

Incidentally, at the Palakkad Assembly by-election held last year, the Left fielded dissident Congress leader Dr Sarin as their candidate after he failed to get the Congress ticket.

However, Sarin finished in third place behind the BJP candidate, while the Congress candidate won a handsome victory.

The Nilambur seat fell vacant after two-time LDF-backed independent MLA P.V. Anvar resigned in January over Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's refusal to probe alleged illegal dealings of top police official M. R. Ajith Kumar and Vijayan's political secretary P. Sasi.

Anvar, who was once a vocal critic of the UDF, has now aligned himself with the Congress-led front.

Senior CPI-M legislator and the Left convenor T.P. Ramakrishnan on Wednesday said the Nilambur voters are just waiting to teach the Congress-led opposition a lesson.

But Anvar hit back, saying the Left is knocking on all doors asking if anyone can contest the polls.

"Is the CPI-M in dire straits that they can't even find one party member to contest. Just wait and see when the votes are counted. The Congress candidate will win with the highest ever margin," claimed Anvar.

In the 2016 Assembly elections, after Congress leader Aryadan Mohammed retired from politics, Anvar defeated his son, Aryadan Shoukath, by over 10,000 votes.

Incidentally, from 1970 onwards, the Congress candidate has won, with the only exception in 1982 when the CPI-M won in Nilambur.

Shoukath's father has won a record eight times. In 2021, Anvar won again, defeating Congress leader V. V. Prakash by just 2,700 votes.

Meanwhile, the Congress party is caught between Shoukath and the Malappuram district Congress candidate V.S. Joy, while the CPI-M is knocking on independent candidates like retired professor Thomas Mathew, who unsuccessfully contested against Aryadan Mohammed in 2011 and a few others.

The last date for finalisation of the electoral rolls in the constituency is April 24th.

The Congress party on Wednesday decided to postpone a protest march in view of the by-election.