Ernakulam: Uma Thomas of the Congress party, who recently won the bypoll from the Thrikkakara legislative assembly constituency in Ernakulam district, formally took oath as a legislator on Wednesday.  

The swearing-in ceremony was held in the chamber of the Speaker of the Kerala Legislative Assembly at 11 am on Wednesday.

Opposition leader VD Satheesan, Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala, former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and UDF Convenor MM Hassan were present for the swearing-in ceremony,

Uma is the sole woman legislator of her party which has been confined to the Opposition benches since the 2016 state poll.  

In the recent by-election, Congress candidate Uma won with a record majority of 25,016 votes from the constituency. The bypoll was held following the death of the her legislator husband PT Thomas, who represented the Thrikkakara seat, in the House.  

With the whopping majority, Uma surpassed the earlier record of 22,406 votes set by Benny Behanan in the 2011 Assembly election. P T Thomas had secured a vote margin of 11,996 in 2016 and 14,329 in 2021. 

In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, Congress candidate Hibi Eden led by 31,777 votes in the Thrikkakara segment of the Ernakulam constituency.