Thrissur: The Congress wrested ward 15 of Sreenarayanapuram panchayat in Kodungallur from the LDF in the by-elections. The party had lost it by a single vote in the civic body elections held last year. In the by-elections held after the death of LDF member A. Muraleedharan, Congress candidate K.A. Hydrose won by a margin of 98 votes. He was the candidate of the party in 2015 as well.
Nadumuri Mohandas of CPM and T.P. Satheeshkumar of BJP were in the fray. Out of the 1098 votes polled, Congress got 582, CPM 484 and BJP 32. Though the BJP had got nearly 100 voters in 2015, its vote share drastically declined in the ward this time. After the by-elections, in the 21-member panchayat council, the LDF has 11 members, BJP 7 and Congress 3.
In the by-elections held at Kaniyamburam panchayat ward 21 in Ottapalam, the LDF retained the seat. K.K. Ramakrishnan of the CPM won by a margin of 385 votes. The BJP came second with its candidate P. Haridas getting 255 votes. Independent Jayarajan Master got 66 and Congress came fourth with its candidate K.G. Lakshmanan getting 51 votes.
