KOCHI : Politics makes strange bedfellows. People who had once clashed as nominees of rival fronts entering the fray as part of the same coalition from different constituencies is a familiar sight during elections.
The story of UDF nominee in Kottayam K Francis George (Kerala Congress-J) and the front’s candidate from Chalakudy Benny Behanan (Congress) is an interesting case. Francis was the LDF candidate in Idukki in 2004, and Benny was his UDF opponent. Francis won with a margin of 69,384 votes.
In the last 20 years, though quiet flowed the Meenachil, its banks, the cradle of different factions of the Kerala Congress, witnessed unfurling of many a political drama, and Francis now finds himself part of the Congress-led UDF. The two-time Idukki MP is now testing the waters of Meenachil at its nerve centre, Kottayam, as UDF candidate.
In 2019, Benny wrested the Chalakudy LS seat for the UDF. Now, both Benny and Francis are the birds of the same feather flock.
Francis’s rival in Kottayam, Thomas Chazhikadan, has a similar story to tell. The Kerala Congress (M) leader had defeated CPM’s V N Vasavan in the 2019 LS elections. The KC(M) was then a constituent of the UDF. Vasavan is currently the in-charge of Chazhikadan’s electioneering. P C Thomas, the NDA candidate in Kottayam last time, is now with the KC (J).
“Kerala Congress had a representative from the state after its formation in 1964 despite the splits,” says Tomichan P Mundupalam, a senior Kerala Congress leader in Idukki, who was part of UDF campaigning in 2004 polls,
Two NDA candidates this time were UDF candidates in earlier assembly elections. Baiju Kalasala, the BDJS candidate in Mavelikara, was Congress nominee from Mavelikara assembly seat in 2016 polls. C Reghunath, the BJP candidate in Kannur, had contested as Congress nominee against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in Dharmadam in 2021.