Puthuppally up for byelection; Chandy Oommen, Jaick Thomas likely candidates
KOTTAYAM: As Puthuppally bid a painful adieu to its very own Oommen Chandy, the stage is set for a byelection from his fiefdom for the past five decades. With nearly three years remaining for the current legislative assembly, the byelection is certain, though it’s not sure whether it will be held with or ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha election. And all eyes are on Chandy’s family.
Puthuppally being a constituency represented by Chandy for 53 years, in all likelihood the UDF will find Chandy’s successor from his family. There won’t be any differences of opinion within the Congress over cashing in on the sympathy wave. And Chandy’s son Chandy Oommen is likely to emerge as a contender.
During Chandy’s mourning procession from Thiruvananthapuram to Puthuppally, it was Chandy Oommen who was in the picture all along.
Oommen’s bonhomie with Rahul Gandhi and K C Venugopal is expected to come in favour of him. A section of Congress leaders is of the view that Rahul Gandhi’s visit to Puthuppally to pay homage to Chandy has certain political significance.
“In the present political situation, Chandy Oommen would be the most suitable candidate for the byelection in Puthuppally. I think Congress will go for another choice only if Oommen says ‘no’. Oommen can easily win the election with a good majority,” said a Congress leader.
At the same time, ‘A’ group leaders also prefer Chandy’s daughter Achu Oommen as the successor taking into account her connections with the party’s grassroots level workers in Puthuppally.
A few other Congress leaders like former district panchayat president Philson Mathews, Youth Congress district president Chintu Kurien Joy, Puthuppally division district panchayat member Nibu John Thomas and Joshy Philip also have their eyes on Puthuppally seat.
“Discussions over a byelection have not commenced in the party. Let the leadership take a call,” Philson said. His good relations with community and religious heads like NSS general secretary G Sukumaran Nair and Major Archbishop Cardinal George Alencherry will prove advantageous to Oommen. Being a member of the St George Orthodox Church, Puthuppally, Oommen has the support of the Orthodox sect as well.
As per the structure of Puthuppally constituency, Orthodox Church has an upper hand in Pampady, Meenadom, and Puthuppally panchayats, and some parts of Vakathanam panchayat, whereas Catholics have majority in Kooroppada and Akalakunnam panchayats. Only Manarcad is the Jacobite faction-dominated panchayat.
Meanwhile, a major challenge before the UDF is that six out of total eight panchayats in the constituency are being ruled by the LDF. According to sources, CPM is likely to give one more chance to young leader Jaick C Thomas.
Jaick, who contested against Chandy twice, had brought down Chandy’s majority from 27,092 in 2016 to 9,044 in 2021. LDF is of the view that Jaick, who showed a commendable performance against Chandy, can wrest the constituency from UDF in Chandy’s absence.
LEFT TO START PREPARATIONS FOR PUTHUPPALLY BYPOLL
T’Puram: The CPM and LDF are all set to start preparatory works for the Puthuppally byelection. The CPM state secretariat has instructed the Kottayam district leadership to start preparations as the state assembly secretariat has issued the notification related to the vacancy in the constituency. As the assembly secretariat has informed the Central Election Commission about the vacancy, the date for the by-election is likely to be announced soon.
The LDF state committee to be held on Saturday after a long gap would also take note of the political situation. The CPM will start the candidate selection process only after the Election Commission announces the byelection date. The LDF will chart out programmes related to the Uniform Civil Code issue and the Manipur unrest.