THRISSUR: The chief minister's interventions are also a factor in the victory in Chelakkara, said the designated MLA U R Pradeep. The chief minister's words during the election campaign were taken seriously by the people. All that led to victory, said Pradeep.
'As soon as the results were out, got a call from the chief minister's office to congratulate me directly. The Speaker also called. I couldn’t speak as my phone was in another car. I will go and meet the chief minister and the speaker directly. Will thank them for the victory they presented following their interventions in the constituency,’ said Pradeep.
U R Pradeep won in Chelakkara with a majority of 12,201 votes. He got 64,259 votes. Pradeep was leading from the beginning of the counting of votes. The LDF's campaign highlighted the activities of the second Pinarayi government and the development works done by Minister K Radhakrishnan.
Pradeep had been the MLA of Chelakkara for five years from 2016 to 2021. He was the president of Deshamangalam Panchayat from 2000 to 2005. He was the President of Deshamangalam Service Cooperative Bank from 2009 to 2011. He has been working as the chairman of the State Scheduled Caste and Tribe Development Corporation since 2022.
Meantime, in the Chelakkara by-election, UDF candidate Ramya Haridas of the Congress got 52,626 votes and BJP's K Balakrishnan got 33,609 votes. NOTA got 1034 votes.