Uma Thomas won the by-elections of Thrikkakara Municipality with a margin of 25,000 votes, defeating CPI(M) candidate, Dr. Jo Joseph.
UDF leader, P T Thomas, had won the seat by 14,329 votes last year. It was his death in December 2021 which led to the by-polls on 31st May. This was the prime reason why his wife, Uma Thomas, stepped in to secure the seat in the by-election.
The Left Democratic Front (LDF) alliance had brought in their new candidate, cardiologist Dr. Jo Joseph. From the NDA alliance, veteran BJP leader A N Radhakrishnan stood for the poll.
The counting of the poll results began at 8 a.m. on Friday, 3rd June (Today). The EVMs were taken out from the strong room in Maharaja’s College at 7:30 a.m. Representatives of all parties were present as supposed to. 21 counting tables were set up with 100 officials to count the votes.
Uma Thomas of United Declared Front (UDF) was declared to have retained Thrikkakara after six rounds of counting.
Reaction of the leaders to the results
C N Mohanan, CPI(M) secretary of Ernakulam District, stated that the results were unexpected for him. ”The party would examine the vote outcome”, Mohanan told the state media. Prior to the counting, he had predicted a win for LDF by 4000 votes.
M. Swaraj, a member of CPI(M) state secretariat, also expected the victory of the Left alliance. He had predicted that majority of the voters who do not vote for UDF, had voted for Dr. Jo Joseph.
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Mohammed Shiyas, Congress Ernakulam district President, did not miss the opportunity to attack Cm Pinarayi Vijayan. He stated the results were a smacking reply to the CPI(M) supremo.
He also accused the CM of using communal means in the by-election.
Former MLA and Congress leader, Dominic Presentation had predicted a win for UDF. Although his predicted winning margins of 5000 to 8000 votes were widely surpassed.
BJP leader A N Radhakrishnan stated that he expected the front to lead.
Expectations after the By Poll Voting
The polling attendance in March was only 68.77%, a drop of almost three percent from 2021 (70.39%). Out of 1.96 lakh voters, only 1.35 had turned up even after the vigorous door-to-door campaigning.
There was a 55% polling fall collectively in the constituencies of Ponekkara, Palarivattom, Kadavanthra, and Girinagar. The LDF took this as a sign of a fall in Kerala Congress’s votes, although the latter stood confident. In contrast, eastern Thrikkakara saw a rise in the number of voters.
The Left party considered an advantage in the absence of an AAP candidate as well.
The UDF alliance was confident about the seat after the polls. The alliance confirmed that the drop in the number of voters will not affect them. They further confirmed that the voters in their favor successfully cast their votes. UDF has been winning this seat since 2011.
Consequences of winning the by-polls
Winning the poll would increase the Left’s assembly seats from 100 to 140. This would help them in their proposal of a semi-high-speed SilverLine rail corridor. The proposal has received pushback from the opposition.
K Sudhakaran, the president of Kerala’s Pradesh Congress will have an electoral test alongside Opposition leader V D Satheesan, President of INC in Kerala. This will also show the support of the Christians, which form 40% of the state. In the recent past, Christians have been shifting away from Congress.
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