Thrikkakara bypoll | Brisk start to voting as 8% cast their votes in the initial hour

Eight candidates are in the fray but the fight is mainly among the three key fronts being represented by Uma Thomas, Jo Joseph, and A. N. Radhakrishnan

As rain stayed away, long queues of voters were formed in front of most of the polling booths as 8% of the electorate cast their votes in the initial hour itself in the by-election to Thrikkakara Assembly constituency on May 31.

The byelection was necessitated following the death of senior Congress leader P. T. Thomas, who represented Thrikkakara twice, on December 22, 2021.

Among the three candidates, UDF candidate Uma Thomas, wife of the late Congress legislator P.T. Thomas, was the first to cast her vote at a booth at Palarivattom Pipeline near her house around 7.10 a.m. She had come to the booth after offering prayers at the nearby temple and church.

Emerging from the booth, Ms. Thomas expressed confidence in posting an impressive victory. “PT’s soul is with me so as the blessings and prayers of the people of Thrikkakara. Everything seems to be favourable, including nature. I want to finish the development works in the constituency as PT’s successor,” she said.

The LDF candidate Jo Joseph and his wife Daya Pascal cast their votes at booth number 140 at the Government LP School Padamugal. They had to wait in the queue for about 30 minutes on account of the long queue before casting the votes shortly after 7.30 a.m.

“I am 100% confident about the victory. The confidence was there from the very first day of campaigning and it kept rising since then. Reports are coming in that long queues of voters are in all booths from the morning itself. The sky is clear so as my heart. LDF has put in disciplined work and there is no doubt of a big win,” said Dr. Joseph who earlier in the morning predicted an upset victory recalling the recent UDF defeats in their strongholds of Vattoyoorkkavu and Konni.

Ms. Pascal, who was also in the news after coming out in the open against the fake video targeting her husband during the campaign trail, expressed confidence that the people of Thrikkakara would vote for ‘positive politics.’