BJP loses its sole Assembly seat
The Hindu
Sivankutty defeats Kummanam by 3,949 votes , K. Muraleedharan comes third
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has lost its sole seat in the Assembly when Communist Party of India (Marxist) CPI(M) candidate V. Sivankutty defeated Kummanam Rajasekharan of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by 3,949 votes. Congress leader and K. Muraleedharan, MP, who had a much-hyped campaign launch, turned up a distant third. In the constituency, which the BJP had dubbed as the “Gujarat of Kerala”, Mr. Sivankutty polled 55,837 votes, Mr. Rajasekharan 51,888 votes, and Mr. Muraleedharan 36,524 votes.The election authorities are gearing up for the counting of votes cast in the simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh, scheduled to be held on June 4. The Collectors and Election Officers of Visakhapatnam, Anakapalli and Alluri Sitharama Raju (ASR) districts said on May 23 (Thursday) that their teams were ready for the counting of votes.
Responding to the prolonged water scarcity, the residents of the area took to the streets in protest on Wednesday. The protest, which drew attention to their plight, stopped only after the intervention of the police. It was not until 1.30 p.m. that a 4000-litre tanker was finally delivered by BWSSB, providing relief to the water-starved residents.