Kerala Election Result 2021 | Dharmadam Assembly Constituency: CM P Vijayan defeats Congress' C Raghunathan by over 50,000 votes

Kerala Assembly Election 2021: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is facing a challenge from former state president of BJP CK Padmanabhan and Congress' C Raghunath.

Kerala Assembly Election 2021 Dharmadam LIVE Updates: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan took on the former state president of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) CK Padmanabhan and Congress' C Raghunathan.

After a single phase of polling on April 6, amid the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, counting of votes is underway in Kerala. Pinarayi Vijayan has won the election by a margin of 50,123 votes aganst INC's C Raghunathan in Dharmadam assembly constituency.

Follow our LIVE blog for the latest updates of the 2021 Kerala assembly election result

Dharmadam is located in the politically volatile northern Kannur district, where CM Vijayan is contesting to retain his seat. In the 2015 Assembly elections, Vijayan won in this seat defeating the Congress candidate by a margin of 36,905.

In this election, the BJP had fielded its former state President, while Congress had put the general secretary of the Kannur District Congress Committee in the fray. Besides the BJP and Congress candidates, Vijayan faced a real notable challenge from an independent candidate V Bhagyavathi -- mother of 'Walayar sisters' -- who is seeking justice for her two daughters whose bodies were discovered after being sexually abused.

A total of eight candidates contested from the Dharmadam constituency, including Vijayan, Padmanabhan, Raghunathan and Bhagyavathi. The remaining four are Basheer Kannadiparamba from the Social Democratic Party of India and three independent candidates Chovva Raghunathan, CP Maharoof and Vadi Harindran.

Counting of votes for the assembly polls is also underway across Assam, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and the Union Territory of Puducherry.

Follow Moneycontrol’s full coverage of the 2021 assembly election here