KOCHI: The tussle among the ‘cyber soldiers’ of various Kerala Congress (KC) parties has sparked a discussion on the P J Joseph and Jose K Mani factions’ penchant to ‘switch fronts’. Both camps are leaving no stone unturned to corroborate their arguments as they lock horns for the Kottayam Lok Sabha seat, a traditional citadel of KC groups.
It all began with a Facebook post by the KC(M) showing a picture of KC leader P C Thomas with Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The post alleges that in the 2019 LS election, KC (Joseph), the party of UDF candidate K Francis George, had aligned with the BJP-led NDA. Thomas, who is the working chairman of the party, was the NDA candidate from Kottayam then.
KC(M) cyber warriors further claimed that after the faction led by Jose was recognised as the official KC(M), the Joseph faction, which was not registered as a party, soon merged with the Kerala Congress under Thomas. The attack was in response to a UDF campaign against sitting MP Thomas Chazhikadan, who had won the Kottayam seat as a UDF candidate and is now seeking the people’s mandate as a representative of the Left. The Joseph faction recently shared a video of a speech in which one of its leaders says that the UDF decided to reclaim the MP post granted in 2019. The caption of the post reads: ‘Yes, UDF will take back the position that it granted in 2019.’
In response, the Mani group alleged that Thomas would soon align the party with the NDA. KC(M) cyber warriors claimed that in all the eight elections he has fought, Chazhikadan contested as a KC(M) candidate and under its ‘two leaves’ symbol. As the Joseph faction is not recognised as a state party it would be allocated a symbol by the EC only after the filing of nomination papers by all candidates, they said.
“Ours is a registered outfit, and if those elected switch sides, they will lose their posts. In this election, except for the BJP, all parties are fighting fascist forces and those who wish to oppose them have the option to vote for Chazhikadan as he will never switch to the NDA camp. However, the candidate in the other corner can shift allegiances as he is not part of a registered outfit,” said Biji M Thomas, KC(M) high power committee member.