Palakkad: The CPM’s gamble to field K Radhakrishnan from Alathur to wrest the Alathur Lok Sabha seat may have had a positive impact, though it is not clear who will be the ultimate winner.
A ManoramaNews-VMR exit poll indicates a thriller contest in the Lok Sabha seat with Radhakrishnan just 0.42 per cent votes behind sitting MP Ramya Haridas of the Congress. The slender margin in exit poll means that the contest could go either way when votes are counted.
Exit polls indicated 40.96 per cent voters preferred Ramya Haridas with the corresponding number for Radhakrishnan at 40.54. The BJP got 17.49 votes, a jump of 8.68.
There is a significant fall of 11.4 per cent votes in the UDF kitty while LDF increased its share by 3.77 per cent.
In 2019, Ramya Haridas shocked the LDF candidate P K Biju, who was aiming for a hat-trick, by a margin of 1,58,968 votes. Ramya also got 51,37 per cent of votes polled.
The CPM’s vote share was 36.77 per cent and the NDA candidate T V Babu got 8.81 per cent.
Radhakrishnan is the Devaswom Minister in the Pinarayi government. BJP candidate is former Palakkad Victoria College principal T N Sarasu, who had locked horns with the SFI, the students wing of the CPM.
