Congress got victory in the by-election from Kerala
The opposition Congress-UDF won the by-election to Thrikkakara assembly seat in Kerala. In this way, the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) led LDF has suffered a major setback. Opposition candidate Uma Thomas defeated Left candidate Joe Joseph by a margin of over twenty five thousand votes.
In Thrikkakara constituency, the CPI(M) under the leadership of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan did an unprecedented campaign at the grassroots level. The CPI(M) termed the defeat as “unexpected” and “shocking”. The Congress, on the other hand, said their resounding victory was a slap in the face on the first anniversary of the second term of the Vijayan government.
Late PT Thomas’s wife gets over 72,000 votes
Uma, wife of late PT Thomas, a prominent party leader, maintained an impressive lead in all the 12 rounds of counting from the very beginning. He garnered over 72,000 votes. At the same time, his nearest rival Joseph got over 47,000 votes.
Third position: AN Radhakrishnan of BJP
Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) candidate AN Radhakrishnan came third. Last year, bypolls were held on the Thrikkakara seat, which fell vacant after the death of Thomas. Apart from Vijayan, all the cabinet ministers and most of the legislators, the leaders conducted an extensive campaign for several weeks in the constituency.
