THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chavara and Kuttanad Assembly seats will see RSP’s Shibu Baby John and Kerala Congress (Mani) P J Joseph faction leader Jacob Abraham contesting in the by-election under the UDF banner amid uncertainty on seeing the by-election. Shibu Baby John’s candidature was announced earlier without any hiccups. Both the by-election seats belong to the LDF now which is going to be a do-or-die battle for the LDF and the UDF.
Fifty-seven-year-old Shibu Baby John had contested four times from Chavara Assembly constituency, which is known for having supported his late father Baby John for decades, where he had won twice. He also went on to become the labour and employment minister in the Oommen Chandy Government.Though the dates of the by-election have not been announced, Shibu Baby John has already started his campaign unofficially with the blessings of the UDF leadership. On the day when the Chief Minister sought the support of the Opposition in cancelling the bypolls, the UDF meeting was being convened to finalise on the Kuttanad candidate.
After the UDF meeting on Tuesday, P J Joseph and Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala announced the decision on the candidature of Jacob Abraham. This is the second outing for 60-year-old Jacob who had come behind NCP’s Thomas Chandy during the 2016 Assembly election.He had then lost to NCP’s Thomas Chandy by 4,891 votes. But he is unlikely to get the “two leaves” symbol of KC (M) after Joseph had approached the High Court on Tuesday against the Election Commission of India’s decision to award the party symbol to the rival Jose K Mani faction.
Jacob Abraham is also the Alappuzha district president of the Joseph faction. He belongs to the Knanaya Catholic community and is a resident of Veliyanad panchayat in Alappuzha. Though the Alappuzha DCC leadership feels that the situation is different now compared to the 2016, the votes polled by BDJS candidate Subhash Vasu stands crucial this time. With the announcement of the UDF candidates, now the Opposition camp is keen to know whether the Election Commission of India will go ahead with its decision to hold the by-elections in the state.