The by-election was necessitated following the death of senior Congress leader PT Thomas, who had represented the constituency twice.
The by-election was necessitated following the death of senior Congress leader PT Thomas, who had represented the constituency twice.
Congress candidate Uma Thomas took her lead over Left candidate Joe Joseph by over 8,000 votes at the end of the fourth round of counting for the Trikkakara bypoll.
Enthusiasm in Congress camp
Congress workers started celebrating in front of the counting center at Maharaja’s College as soon as the possibility of the Left Front’s return faded away. As predicted by the United Front Camp, Uma Thomas led all the traditional Congress strongholds in the Kochi corporation area including Edappally, Ponnekkara, Devankulangara, Karukapalli, Mamangalam, Padivattam, Anchumana and Vennala. She was ahead of Jo Joseph in Thammanam, Ponnarunni and Karankodam.
Ms. Thomas managed to double her lead in the 2021 assembly elections as compared to the 4,300-vote figure won by her late husband PT Thomas at the end of the fourth round of counting. She was able to get an edge. By nearly 6,000 votes in the third round of counting, PT Thomas had a lead of only 6,000 votes at the end of the seventh round in 2021.
Steady gains in the municipal constituencies surprised the Congress camp as the CPI(M) claimed that the low turnout was an indicator that the United Front had failed to secure even its fixed number of votes. But the results came as a setback for the Left Front as Uma Thomas led even in areas which had considerable Left Front presence.
BJP is far behind
There was nothing to cheer for the Bharatiya Janata Party as its candidate AN Radhakrishnan could garner only 4,086 votes at the end of the third round of counting.
Leader of the Opposition VD Satheesan, who reached the District Congress Committee office at around 9.30 am, reiterated his earlier stand that Uma Thomas would win over PT Thomas to take a lead of 14,300 in 2021. District Congress Committee president Mohammad Shiaz said people spoke out against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s appeasement of minority and majority communalism.
Officers vote during the counting of postal votes at Maharaja’s College, Kochi on Friday. , photo credit: special arrangement
Before, counting of votes for Trikkakara by-election Beginning with the opening of postal ballots on Friday, June 3, 2022, at 8 a.m. The initial trends of the fiercely fought battle between the United and Left Fronts will be revealed around 9 am.
Counting of votes will take place in 21 rounds. In the first 11 rounds, the votes cast at 21-21 booths will be counted. The final result is expected by around 11 am
The bypoll was necessitated following the death of senior Congress leader PT Thomas, who represented Thrikkakara twice, on December 22, 2021. The Congress party had secured a lead of nearly 1,000 votes across booths in the first round of counting in the 2021 assembly. Election.
Eight candidates were in the fray as the fight was primarily between three major fronts represented by Uma Thomas (United Democratic Front); Joe Joseph (Left Front); and A N Radhakrishnan (National Democratic Alliance).
Polling was held in 239 booths in the urban area. Thrikkakara recorded the lowest voter turnout of 68.77 in this election.