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

Results declared on Friday showed that 37-year-old Chandy Oommen trounced his main rival Jaick C Thomas of the CPI(M) by a margin of 37,719 votes in the bypoll, which saw nearly a month of vigorous campaigning by leaders of the Congress, CPI(M), and BJP for their respective parties.

The Legislature Secretariat said in a statement that Chandy Oommen's swearing-in would be held on September 11. He will take oath as the new legislator after the Question Hour session, it said.

The house proceedings can be seen live on the state-run Sabha TV, the statement added.

The assembly session, which was cut short due to the announcement of the bypoll, will continue as scheduled from Monday onward, sources said.

The September 5 bypoll was held following the death of Oommen Chandy on July 18