Kochi, Jun 3 (IANS): Counting of votes for the Thrikkakara by-election is currently underway on Friday, with Congress candidate Uma Thomas taking an early lead in postal ballots.

Of the 10 postal votes counted so far, Uma got six and CPI-M candidate Joe Joseph secured four.

There will be 11 rounds of counting.

Both Uma and Joseph are extremely confident of winning, while the BJP's veteran candidate A.N. Radhakrishnan, who till the end of polling said he will be the winner, but on Thursday he said he will get more votes (over 15,000) than his party candidate got in the 2021 April Assembly polls.

The election became a necessity after the sudden demise of two-time Thrikkakara's Congress legislator P.T. Thomas in December last year.

While many expected the turnout to be the highest ever since the constituency came into being in 2011, when polling ended it turned out to be the least ever with 68.77 per cent only casting their votes.

Analysis showed that while the turnout in the Left strongholds was above 75 per cent, but in areas where the Congress has an upper hand the turnout was less than 60 per cent.