Indian Union Muslim League leader P K Kunhalikutty registering a win in the Malappuram by election in Kerala. The voting for Malappuram seat was held on April 12 following the demise of former Union Minister and IUML leader E Ahamed. PK Kunhalikutty of Congress-led UDF candidate and IUML General Secretary, LDF candidate MB Faisal (CPI-M) and NDA nominee N Sreeprakash of BJ were in the fray along with six independent candidates. The counting of votes started at 8:00 am and ended at 12 noon. 71.33 per cent of the total electorate had voted in the elections.
Malappuram bypoll result live updates:
12:00 pm: IUML leader and UDF candidate PK Kulhalikutty wins from Malappuram Lok Sabha seat, reports ANI
#Kerala Congress-led-UDF candidate P K Kunhalikutty wins Malappuram by polls. pic.twitter.com/5RmScCV82t
— ANI (@ANI_news) April 17, 2017
11:40 am: The vote margin now crosses 1.5 lakh with Kulhalikutty getting more than 5 lakh votes. The IUML had claimed that it will win the elections by more than 2 lakh votes.
11:00 am: Kulhalikutty has bagged over four lakh votes, as per local media reports.
10:40 am: The counting of votes is now expected to get over in short time. IUML maintained a lead since the beginning and is now moving towards a comfortable victory.
10.26 am: The IUML now has 330343 votes and a lead of over 1,20,000 which seems unassailable at the moment.
10.14 am: Kulhalikutty’s lead is now over one lakh votes. He could end up with a victory margin larger than that of E Ahamed who had won with a margin of 1,94,739 votes in 2014.
9:30 am: PK Kulhalikutty is now leading with 62,490 votes. The voting is expected to be over by 11:00 am.
9:20 am: Local reports suggest that the IUML candidate is strongly maintaining the lead with CPI on the second position.
8:50 am: PK Kulhalikutty is now leading with 20,000 votes, according to local media reports.
8:27 am: PK Kulhalikutty is fighting on IUML ticket which is part of Congress-led UDF alliance in the state. The Malappuram Lok Sabha seat is dominated by Muslim population.
#Kerala Malappuram by polls: Congress-led-UDF candidate P K Kunhalikutty leading by more than 3000 votes. Counting underway pic.twitter.com/LAa4x92pDB
— ANI (@ANI_news) April 17, 2017
8:17 am: IUML leader and UDF candidate PK Kunhalikutty is leading as per early trends. MB Faisal of CPM is behind by 3000 votes
8:12 am: Over 9 lakh votes will be counted today. 9,36,315 persons had voted in the elections out of total 13,12,693.
8:00 am: Counting of votes begins. The first trends are expected to come in by 8:15 am
7:50 am: The counting of votes will take place at government college in Malappuram where a tight security cover has been deployed.
7:30 am: The counting of votes for Malappuram by election will begin at 8 am.