Chandy Oommen takes oath as Puthuppally MLA

Congress-led UDF opposition's Chandy Oommen, who retained the party's bastion Puthuppally with a historic margin in the September 5 bypoll, took oath as its new MLA on Monday, filling the seat left vacant by the death of his father and party stalwart Oommen Chandy.

Thirty seven-year-old Chandy Oommen was sworn in as the new legislator after the Question Hour session of the House.

He took the oath of office on the floor of the House.

Oommen had trounced his main rival Jaick C Thomas of the CPI(M) by a margin of 37,719 votes in the bypoll.

The assembly session, which was cut short due to the announcement of the bypoll, resumed as scheduled from Monday.

The September 5 bypoll for Puthuppally constituency in Kottayam district was necessitated following the death of Oommen Chandy on July 18.