Kerala Assembly Election 2021, Thrikkakara profile: Congress' PT Thomas won seat in 2016, eyes second term

Thrikkakara Assembly Election 2021 | The Thrikkakara Assembly constituency was formed in 2011 after a delimitation exercise in Kerala. The Thrikkakara Assembly constituency will vote on  6 April, 2021 , along with the rest of Kerala. Congress has held the seat since its inception. While Benny Behanan won the 2011 election by 22,406 votes, PT Thomas won in 2016 by 11,996 votes. Thomas is seeking re-election in the 2021 election as a Congress candidate.

Past election results and winners

In the 2016 election, Congress winner PT Thomas garnered 61,451 votes. While CPM runner-up Sebastian Paul got 49,455 votes, BJP’s S Saji polled 21,247 votes.

Total electors, voter turnout, population

Electors: Thrikkakara has an electorate of 1,87,833, comprising 91,147 males, 96,684 females and two third-genders. There are 162 polling stations in the constituency. Voter turnout: In the 2016 Assembly election, Thrikkakara recorded a voter turnout of 74.38 percent. Of the 1,47,857 who cast their ballot, 69,485 were males and 78,372 were females. Population: The Thrikkakara Assembly constituency comprises ward numbers 31, 33, 34 and 36 to 51 of Kochi Municipal Corporation and Thrikkakara panchayat in Kanayannur taluk. As per Census 2011, of Kerala’s 3.34 crore population, 54.73 percent are followers of Hinduism, followed by 26.56 percent followers of Islam and 18.38 percent Christians. Hinduism is the major religion in 13 of the state’s 14 districts. Malappuram is the only district in Kerala where Islam is the major religion with 70.24 percent of the district’s total population following the religion. The state has a tiny population that follows Jainism (0.01 percent), Sikhism (0.01 percent), Buddhism (0.01 percent) and 0.02 percent (other religions). Nearly 0.26 percent in the state didn’t state their religion during the 2011 Census.

Election date and timing

The Kerala Assembly/Niyama Sabha polls will be held on 6 April, 2021 , along with Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. The day will also see phase three polls in Assam and West Bengal. The Kerala Legislative Assembly (Vidhan Sabha) has a total number of 140 seats, of which, 14 seats are reserved for the Scheduled Castes and two seats are reserved for the Scheduled Tribes. The outgoing Assembly has eight female MLAs and rest 132 are male. The incumbent Kerala Niyamasabha will expire on 1 June, 2021.

Political alliances and Kerala

Elections in Kerala have traditionally been a contest between the UDF and the LDF with power swinging between the two groups. In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the Congress-led UDF had won 19 out of the state’s 20 Lok Sabha seats banking on incumbency against the ruling LDF. However, repeating a similar feat in the Assembly polls is going to be an uphill task for the UDF. The LDF has not only managed to overcome anti-incumbency in the 2020 local body polls but also managed to make inroads into UDF votebanks, particularly in Thrissur, Ernakulam, and Kottayam districts. The NDA, which is emerging as a third front in Kerala, will be hoping to increase its tally in the Assembly polls. However, given that the BJP-led NDA didn’t meet the expectations in the 2020 local body polls despite making gains, its ability to impact either the UDF’s or LDF’s prospects in the Assembly election remains unclear. Of the seven Assembly segments that are part of the Kasaragod Parliamentary constituency, five are with the CPM-led LDF (four with CPM, and one with CPI) while IUML, a constituent of the Congress-led UDF, is the second-largest party, winning the remaining two seats (Kasaragod and Manjeshwaram) in the last Assembly polls. BJP didn’t win any of the seven Assembly segments that are part of the Kasaragod Parliamentary constituency in 2016.