Malappuram: Nilambur's independent candidate P V Anvar on Sunday alleged that nearly 10,000 "anti-Aryadan Shoukath votes" that were expected to favour him instead went to LDF candidate M Swaraj. Speaking to the media, he said this shift happened due to widespread speculation that Shoukath, the Congress-led UDF candidate, would not win the Nilambur bypoll.

Counting of votes in Nilambur, which witnessed a fierce four-cornered battle, is set to begin on Monday.

Despite the alleged cross-voting setback, Anvar expressed confidence that he would emerge victorious in the closely contested bypoll. Anvar blamed CPM for misleading voters into believing that he was unlikely to win, which, he said, led to the vote shift in favour of Swaraj.

“It was shocking news to me,” Anvar said, adding that the bypoll results will ultimately reflect the true will of the people.

The counting of votes will begin at 8 am at Chungathara Marthoma Higher Secondary School. In the polling held on June 19, a total of 1,74,667 voters exercised their franchise, marking a turnout of 75.27 per cent.

Prominent candidates in the fray include Aryadan Shoukath (UDF), M Swaraj (LDF), Adv Mohan George (NDA), and former MLA P V Anwar (Independent), among ten contenders.

Counting will be conducted in 19 rounds across 14 tables, with an additional five tables reserved for counting postal ballots, including those received through the Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot System (ETBS). The process will commence with postal ballots, followed by the counting of votes recorded in Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).

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