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.
