Kochi, Both the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) and the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) candidates on Monday filed nominations for the Thrikkakara Assembly by-election to be held on May 31. UDF’s Uma Thomas, wife of late MLA P T Thomas, filed four sets of nominations while cardiologist and LDF candidate Dr Jo Joseph filed three sets of nomination papers at the Ernakulam Collectorate. In protest against the rising fuel prices, Uma Thomas and other UDF leaders arrived in decorated cycle rickshaws to submit her papers. She was accompanied by senior Congress leaders including V D Satheesan, Benny Behanan, George Eden, DCC President Mohammad Shias, K Babu, T J Vinod, Anwar Sadat and Roji M John. Dr Jo Joseph was accompanied by CPI (M) district secretary C N Mohanan, constituency secretary M Swaraj, CPI district secretary P Raju and Kerala Congress (M) leader Jose K Mani. Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday announced State Vice President A N Radhakrishan, a familiar face of its election campaign for the last two decades, as its candidate. The by-election to the Thrikkakara Assembly constituency was necessitated following the death of P T Thomas on December 22, 2021.
