Who Is Uma Thomas? UDF Candidate Wins Thrikkakara By-polls With Huge Majority

United Democratic Front won with a thumping majority in the by-polls for the Thrikkakara assembly constituency in Kerala’s Ernakulam district. Congress candidate Uma Thomas won with a majority of 25,015 votes in the recently concluded by-polls, the highest since the constituency’s formation in 2011.

The Congress candidate’s win dashed hopes of LDF to increase the number of their candidates to 100 in the 140-member Kerala Legislative Assembly.

Reportedly, Uma polled a total of 72,770 votes while LDF candidate Jo Joseph garnered nearly 48,000 votes. BJP’s AN Radhakrishnan received only 12,957 votes which is lower than the votes the party received in the 2021 elections.

According to the reports, Uma began with a lead of 2,163 votes after the end of the first round which only extended her lead in every round and it crossed 10,000-mark at the end of counting’s fifth-round to touch 11,413 before she led as 24,300 additional votes were counted in the seventh round of counting. In none of the rounds, LDF could not reduce Uma's lead.

The by-polls were necessitated following the demise of legislator PT Thomas in December last year.

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Who Is Uma Thomas?

Uma Thomas is a Kerala legislator who won by a margin of nearly 25,000 votes in the recently concluded by-polls for the Thrikkakara constituency. Uma, according to her affidavits submitted for elections, works for Aster Hospital in Ernakulam. It is not detailed as to what role she fills in there.

Uma was married to the previous legislator of the constituency, Late PT Thomas. He died of cancer on December 22, 2021, leaving the constituency without a legislator. The couple has two children—a son and a daughter.

The margin by which Uma won is higher than what her late husband PT Thomas received when he contested the polls in 2021 and won by just 14,329 votes.

Analysts have said that Uma’s win was ensured because of the respect people have for her late husband and because they also accept her as one of them. According to reports, the belief that she can better respond to issues and resolve them among people contributed majorly to her win.