Aroor constituency all set for three-cornered bypoll

The mantle fell on Prakash Babu after BDJS, a constituent of NDA, decided not to contest in the seat.

LDF candidate for Aroor assembly constituency Manu C Pulickal seeking the blessings of Administrative Reforms Commission chairman V S Achuthanandan at the latter’s residence in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday. A M Ariff, MP, and Achuthanandan’s son V A Arun

ALAPPUZHA: With the declaration of Yuva Morcha state president K P Prakash Babu as the NDA candidate, Aroor assembly constituency is set to witness a triangular contest in the upcoming byelection.

The mantle fell on Prakash Babu after BDJS, a constituent of NDA, decided not to contest in the seat. In the 2016 election, BDJS had contested from the seat.

While Prakash is a native of Naripatta in Kozhikode, Shanimol Usman of UDF is a native of Alappuzha town and LDF candidate Manu C Pulickal is from Vayalar.

Prakash was a prominent face in the agitation related to the Sabarimala women entry issue and he was jailed in connection with the issue.

Manu C Pulickal has already filed his nomination papers and the UDF and the NDA candidates will file nomination papers on Monday, which is the last date for filing papers.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the election convention of LDF at Palace Convention Centre, Chandiroor, on Monday. CPM district secretary T J Anjalose will preside over the meet.

CPM central committee member M V Govindan Master, ministers T M Thomas Isaac, G Sudhakaran, P Thilothaman, Ramachandran Kadannapally among others will speak.