Malappuram: IUML leader Abdussamad Samadani won the bypoll to the Malappuram Lok Sabha seat on Sunday by defeating V P Sanu of the CPI(M) with a margin of 1.15 lakh votes.
The by-election to Malappuram, a stronghold of the Indian Union Muslim League, was necessitated following the resignation of party general secretary P K Kunhalikutty from the Lok Sabha to contest in the Assembly polls.
The IUML is a key constituent of the Congress-led UDF in Kerala.
Kunhalikutty had won the seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in a record margin of more than 2.6 lakh votes. He had defeated Sanu in the 2019 polls.