Puthupally bypoll: Congress candidate Chandy Oommen casts vote

Kottayam (Kerala) [India]: Chandy Oommen, a Congress candidate from Puthupally Assembly constituency, where voting for the bye-election is underway, cast his vote on Tuesday morning.

The voting for the bye-elections to the seven assembly constituencies of six states, including Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Kerala, Tripura, West Bengal, and Jharkhand, started on Tuesday at 7 am.

The son of late Congress veteran, Oommen Chandy, visited St. George Orthodox church ahead of voting.

The death of former Kerala Chief Minister Oomen Chandy necessitated the bypolls in Puthupally seat. Congress has fielded Oommen Chandy's son, Chandy Oomen, while the ruling party CPI (M) has fielded Jaick C. Thomas from this constituency.

Notably, this is the first election between the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the Opposition bloc's newly formed Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA).

Voting for bye-elections is being held for Kerala's Puthupally, Dhupguri seat in West Bengal's Jalpaiguri, Dumri in Jharkhand and Uttarkhand's Bageshwar, and Boxanagar and Dhanpur in Tripura.

The Election Commission will release the results of bye-elections on Friday, September 8.