KOCHI : Kerala Congress (Joseph) may have announced former member of Parliament K Francis George as its candidate for the Kottayam Lok Sabha seat and commenced the campaign against its rival, KC (Mani) and its sitting MP Thomas Chazhikadan, but the party’s election symbol is still grounds for conjecture.
There is uncertainty surrounding the ‘farmer driving a tractor’ symbol, which it was assigned for the 2021 assembly election. There is no guarantee the Election Commission (EC) will allocate the same symbol for the upcoming LS vote.
Falling as it does under the category of registered unrecognised political parties, the party is yet to be assigned a symbol. It must await completion of the nomination paper scrutiny process, when the final list of candidates is determined, for a symbol. With the EC yet to officially notify the general election, the wait for a symbol for the sole seat it is contesting will test the nerves of party rank and file
Registered unrecognised parties do not have the privilege of an exclusive election symbol, which they must select from a list of ‘free symbols’ provided by the poll panel.
In the 2021 assembly election, KC(J) candidates contested under the common ‘farmer driving a tractor’ symbol, following merger with the P C Thomas faction. All ten candidates fielded by KC sought the symbol. In one instance, however, the candidate for Changanassery received the ‘coconut trees’ symbol, which was also sought by an independent, leading to a resolution through the draw of lots. Moreover, in the 2020 local body polls, the EC allotted the ‘drum’ symbol to the Joseph faction and the name Kerala Congress (M) PJJ.
Earlier that year, the commission declared Jose K Mani’s faction the official KC(M), entitling it to the use of the ‘two leaves’ symbol following a dispute between party vice chairman Jose and working chairman P J Joseph. They fell out after the demise of party chairman K M Mani on April 9, 2019. Joseph then merged his group with the Thomas faction and became Kerala Congress.
Party leaders says the question of an election symbol is merely a technicality. They cited the 1980 general election when the Mani and Joseph factions locked horns in Muvattupuzha.
The official symbol ‘horse’ was allotted to the Mani faction and the Joseph camp contested on an independent symbol. But the official symbol proved unlucky for KC(M), whose candidate George J Mathew lost to the rival faction’s George Joseph.
KC(J) Kottayam president Saji Manjakadambil said they kicked off campaigning despite lack of clarity regarding the symbol. “The symbol would be known only after scrutiny of nominations. However, we are focused in the campaign. A meeting of the party leadership was convened in Kottayam to take stock of the current political situation. The dates of the party conventions will soon be finalised,” he added.