Tag : CPI-M

Thrikkakara: A little over a year after it retained power in Kerala with a massive victory, the CPI-M-led Left Democratic Front suffered a huge setback on Friday in a bypoll held to Thrikkakara assembly constituency, with Congress candidate Uma Thomas winning with a historic margin of 25,016 votes, giving a boost to the morale of the party-led United Democratic Front in the southern state. With the highest ever majority attained in the history of Thrikkakara seat in the fiercely fought electoral battle, Uma, wife of late Congress leader and MLA P T Thomas, became the lone woman legislator of the Congress party in the state assembly. His untimely demise necessitated the bypoll in the urban constituency. While Uma won a total of 72,770 votes and managed to maintain a steady lead in all the 12 rounds of counting since the beginning, her nearest rival and Left candidate Jo Joseph, a reputed cardiologist, could never come anywhere near her tally and had to be satisfied with 47,754 votes. The Bharatiya Janata Party also suffered a blow in the election as its candidate A N Radhakrishnan could garner only 12,957 votes. P T Thomas, Uma's husband and former legislator, had won the constituency with 59,839 votes and secured a margin of 14,329 during the 2021 assembly polls. The defeat also shattered the LDF's dream of concluding the first anniversary celebrations of the second Pinarayi Vijayan-led government by smashing a century in the 140-member Kerala assembly in which the CPM-led alliance has 99 members. It is also seen as a setback for Chief Minister Vijayan who is vigorously pushing the K-Rail project despite massive protests by the affected people. A heartbroken CPI-M, which conducted an unparalleled grassroot-level campaign under the ...