Well past five in the evening, the blazing April sun is yet to lower its intensity at the Puthuppally Church. Legend has it that the St George Orthodox Church is named after Saint George, a Roman military officer martyred in one of the pre-Constantinian persecutions of the 3rd or early 4th century.
The church is now better known as the resting place of former chief minister Oommen Chandy, no less a saint for his followers and well-wishers. At his grave, a family on a pilgrimage circuit poses for a photograph. Decorated with flowers, the grave has Chandy’s portrait at one end: with the trademark unkempt hair and warm smile.
“Immediately after Oommen Chandy’s passing, we saw a large number of people flocking to his grave,” says assistant vicar Kuriakose Eapen. “Even Congress leaders from outside Kerala have visited the grave and paid respects.”
Nearby, migrant labourers are at work. “A well-wisher has sponsored a high-mast lamp, estimated to cost around `7 lakh, near the grave. We hope to complete the construction before the flag hoisting ceremony (scheduled for April 28) for the annual feast,” the priest says.
While the number of people visiting the grave had trickled down, there has been a flurry of activity after the announcement of the Lok Sabha polls.
Congress candidates Kodikunnil Suresh, Shafi Parambil, and Anto Antony offered prayers here before launching their election campaigns. Kerala Congress (Joseph) faction’s Francis George, the UDF candidate in Kottayam, too paid a visit before filing his nomination.
He was accompanied by Chandy’s widow Mariamma and son Chandy Oommen, the Puthupally MLA, and other UDF leaders.
Some 27km away, at the St Thomas Cathedral in Pala, another tomb too witnessed an unexpected number of visitors last week.
On April 9, the fifth death anniversary of the Kerala Congress patriarch K M Mani saw his son Jose K Mani, who is leading the official Kerala Congress (M) faction, arriving with his wife Nisha and LDF candidate Thomas Chazhikadan — the sitting Kottayam MP — to offer prayers. The rival faction leader P J Joseph, accompanied by Francis George, arrived with a bevy of party workers and placed wreaths at Mani’s grave.
Puthupally and Pala come under the Kottayam Lok Sabha constituency which is locked in a battle between the two Kerala Congress factions. The third prominent candidate is Thushar Vellapally of the BDJS, an NDA ally.
“This contest will determine the existence of the two Kerala Congress parties,” says Dejo Kappen, a keen observer of Kerala Congress politics.
“If Jose K Mani’s candidate loses in Kottayam and the Congress candidate wins the nearby Pathanamthitta seat, it would mean the KC(M) has failed to bring its workers’ votes to the Left front,” he explains.
When Chazhikadan won the 2019 election from Kottayam, a predominantly Catholic constituency, the KC(M) was a UDF ally. The party broke away to join the LDF in October 2020.
“In Kottayam, the voters are divided into communists and anti-communists. Just because Jose has gone with the LDF, it isn’t necessary the people will follow. Even when the LDF won 99 seats in the last assembly elections, KC(M) lost the Kaduthuruthy and Pala seats, where the party has the largest numbers of committees,” Kappen points out.
The campaign strategists for Thushar, meanwhile, are wooing the Ezhava community votes with the catchline: ‘Nammude Sahodaranu Oru Vote’ (A Vote for Our Brother). That can possibly reap rich dividends for the NDA candidate. In 2019, P C Thomas garnered over 1.55 lakh votes, including a chunk of Catholic votes, for the NDA.
“This time, there will be a big depletion of traditional Ezhava votes from the CPM to the NDA. The UDF will also lose the community votes but on a much lower scale. But unlike last time, the NDA candidate won’t attract many Christian votes,” Kappen reckons.
Outside the Ettumanoor temple, autorickshaw drivers are animatedly discussing the election prospects of the three fronts.
“The BJP won seven seats in Ettumanoor municipality in 2020. If you look closely, you can find that CPM seats are intact while the Congress is slowly losing its base,” says Sojan (name changed).
At Uzhavoor, George Mathew, who runs a small stationery shop, says he has not seen such bad times in 33 years since he started the store. “There’s hardly any business. Look at the street, there are hardly any customers in any of the shops,” he says.
His shelves are near-empty.
“How can I fill the shelves when I know there won’t be any buyers?” Mathew asks.
He is surviving because his wife is a Plus-2 teacher, he adds.
Well, this LS election is also a make or break effort for the two KC factions. A win would be present a much-needed lifeline for the Joseph faction which lost eight of the 10 seats it contested in the 2021 assembly elections. And for the KC(M), it will be a long, treacherous climb if the party loses this battle.
“A question of life and death for both,” sums up Kappen.
