Onmanorama Lite App
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.
Siddique was tipped to be the CPM candidate in Ponnani because of his popularity. But the party chose 71-year-old trade union leader P Nandakumar.
In the UDF, the seat is allotted to the IUML. The name of national senior vice-president M P Abdussamad Samadani is doing the rounds but no official decision has been made yet.
Kunhalikutty has now changed his political turf to Kerala and the ruling LDF seeks to cash in on the discontent among voters upon whom another by-election has been thrust.
League has won 16 of the 17 Lok Sabha polls here, including the now defunct Manjeri constituency.
Results 1-5
