KOCHI: Many of the special contestants who entered the poll fray unexpectedly could not sustain their position for long, and ultimately switched to the other side.
Topping the list, SFI former state president Sindhu Joy, who was fielded against Oommen Chandy in the Puthuppally constituency in 2006, later joined the Congress and campaigned for Chandy himself in 2011. However, Sindhu’s fate turned bleak later, and her appearance as a programme anchor in a television channel during this election time underscores the downfall of her political career.
The story of Alphonse Kannanthanam, the IAS officer-turned politician who found a place in the LDF’s candidate list in 2006, is slightly different as his exit from the LDF and entry into the BJP came after his five-year stint as the Kanjirappally MLA. Kannanthanam, who has been elected as national executive committee member of the saffron party, was considered for some Assembly seats this time. He was very active in the party’s campaigning for the Lok Sabha and local body polls.
M V Jaya Dali, a gifted orator who started her political life with the KSU, had burst into tears at a press conference after she was denied seat in the 2011 Assembly election. Later, she was declared the LDF’s candidate against Congress stalwart N Sakthan. However, she lost to Sakthan who won with a margin of 12,916 votes. Since then, Dali has been present at all the LDF meetings. This time, she has not yet started electioneering in the constituency where Speaker Sakthan takes on CPM’s I B Sathish and BJP former state chief P K Krishnadas. Currently, Jaya Dali is a CPM councillor in the Neyyatinkara municipality, and district committee member of the All India Democratic Women’s Association, a feeder organisation of the party.
“Once the tour campaign of the LDF candidate begins, I will be more active. I have been attending unit-level meetings of the All-India Democratic Women’s Association,” added Dali.
K T Benny, a member of the ‘Rahul Gandhi brigade’ who made a much-hyped entry into the electoral scene in Chalakkudy had failed to create an impression among the voters. He lost the contest to sitting MLA B D Devassy, who secured a victory margin of 2,549 votes, proving the High Command’s decision wrong. Since then Benny, a Youth Congress leader, has not been very active in the political arena.
The fate of Joseph Augustine and Mohan Thomas, LDF candidates in the Thodupuzha and Poonjar Assembly constituencies respectively in the 2011 election, was not different.
The graph of their political careers seems to have hit the bottom.
Bennet Abraham, the CPI’s controversial candidate in Thiruvananthapuram; and Christy Fernandez, LDF-Independent in Ernakulam, who contested in the last Lok Sabha polls, are also inactive in this year’s Assembly polls.
Shooting stars
SFI former state president Sindhu Joy was fielded against Oommen Chandy in the Puthuppally constituency in 2006. She later joined the Congress and campaigned for Chandy himself in 2011.
M V Jaya Dali started her political career with the KSU. She was declared the LDF’s candidate against Congress stalwart N Sakthan
K T Benny, a member of the ‘Rahul Gandhi brigade’ who made a much-hyped entry into the electoral scene in Chalakkudy failed to create an impression among the voters.
Alphonse Kannanthanam, the IAS officer-turned politician found a place in the LDF’s candidate list in 2006. After his five-year stint as the Kanjirappally MLA, he left the LDF and joined the BJP.