Four years ago, during a by-election prompted by the death of sitting Congress MLA PT Thomas, the Thrikkakara Assembly constituency witnessed one of the most significant campaigns in Kerala in recent memory.
The entire machinery of the Left Democratic Front (LDF), led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, has camped in the constituency — long considered a stronghold of the United Democratic Front (UDF) — and launched an election offensive in a bid to increase its assembly tally from 99 to the coveted three-digit mark. But when the dust settled, the UDF candidate, Mr Thomas’ wife Uma Thomas, not only retained the seat but did so emphatically, registering the largest ever winning margin of 25,016 votes since the constituency was created in 2008, defeating LDF-backed Independent Jo Joseph.
Ms Thomas is back in the fray for the UDF, while the LDF has fielded Pushpa Das, leader of the women’s wing of the CPI(M), All India Democratic Women’s Association. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ceded the seat to its new ally in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Twenty20, a corporate-backed political group that nominated actor and reality show winner Akhil Marar.
The last round of Assembly elections is coming just ahead of the local polls in which the UDF secured a landslide victory, winning 27 out of 48 constituencies in Thrikkakara municipality. LDF were restricted to 18 while the Twenty20 opened their account with one wicket.
Thrikkakara, home to the IT hub of Kochi, has consistently returned UDF candidates since the first election in 2011 when Benny Behanan won by a margin of 22,406 votes against CPI(M)’s ME Hassainar.
Mr Thomas retained the seat in 2016 and 2021, defeating CPI(M) candidate Sebastian Paul and LDF-backed independent Jo Jacob by a margin of 11,996 and 14,329 votes respectively. 220 candidate Terry Thomas placed fourth in 2021 with 10.20% of the vote.
Mr Behanan holds the record for the highest share of the vote in the constituency – 55.90% in 2011, closely followed by Ms Thomas with 53.76% in 2022. Mr Thomas won 45.80% and 44% of the vote in two consecutive elections. LDF candidates never crossed 36.90%, led by Mr. Hassainar and Mr. Paul. The share fell to an all-time low of 33.50% in 2021, although Mr Joseph narrowly improved it to 35.28% in the 2022 by-election, despite conceding a record margin.
The BJP recorded its best performance in 2016 when its candidate S. Saji got 21,247 votes, a share of 15.90%. When he competed again five years later, it had dropped to 11.40%. The party’s worst performance was in 2011 when N. Saji Kumar got just 5%, followed by senior leader AN Radhakrishnan who secured 9.57% in the 2022 by-election.
Part of the Ernakulam Lok Sabha constituency, Thrikkakara also maintained its affinity with the UDF in the general elections. Congress candidate Hibi Eden won 53.60% in 2019 and improved this to 55.77% in 2024. The CPI(M)’s worst performance was in 2019 when it got just 55 votes, while BJP’s Alphonse 5 Kannanthanam came second with 20,710 votes (1%) (1%). In 2024, KS Radhakrishnan of BJP improved his tally to 22,204 votes and 16.78% share.
Published – 31 March 2026 10:31 IST
