Historic win for Cong.-led UDF in Kerala bypolls
The Congress-led UDF registered a stupendous victory in Assembly bypoll in Kerala retaining the Thrikkakara constituency with a record margin on Friday.
The Congress candidate Uma Thomas, widow of P.T. Thomas whose death in December 2021 had necessitated the bypoll, clinched a huge victory over her CPM rival Dr. Jo Joseph by a margin of over 25,000 votes.
Uma Thomas secured 72,770 votes while the CPM- led LDF candidate got 47,754 votes. BJP’s A.N. Radhakrishnan came a poor third with 12,957.
The Twenty20 which had secured over 13,000 votes in 2021 Assembly elections had not fielded a candidate this time. A majority of Twenty20 votes went in favour of the UDF candidate, if the record margin of victory is any indication.
While the victory will have no impact on the LDF Government which has a thumping majority of 99 seats in 140-member Kerala Assembly, it has definitely boosted the morale of the Congress and the UDF which was desperately looking for a victory amid series of failures.
The electoral outcome is also a setback for the CPM since chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, his Cabinet colleagues, MPs, MLAs and top leadership of the party had camped in the constituency for days together with the objective of scoring an upset win in the traditional Congress stronghold in Ernakulam district.
Uma Thomas dedicated the victory to her late husband. “It’s a historic win. I thank the people of Thrikkakara.”
The CPM candidate Jo Joseph said he accepted defeat. “I was entrusted with a responsibility by
WHILE THE victory will have no impact on the LDF Government, it has definitely boosted the morale of the Congress and the UDF which was desperately looking for a victory amid series of failures.
the party. I tried to do my best,” he said.
CPM state secretary Mr Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said the defeat was unexpected. “We’ll check and move on. This mandate will be seen as a warning to act with caution,” he said. The CPM leader who had earlier stated that the bypoll was a referendum on the government’s performance, came out with a rather weak justification. “Our vote share has increased by 2,244 votes compared to last time,” Kodiyeri said.
Thrikkakara is a UDF stronghold.
Former chief minister Oommen Chandy said the victory was the result of the combined efforts of UDF and Congress. “People of Thrikkakara have demolished Pinarayi Vijayan’s greed for 100 seats and LDF’s development agenda has been rejected by the people,” he added.